


The Year Between

by Kihonne



Series: Heroes in the Making: An Elite Force [13]
Category: Lab Rats (TV 2012), Lab Rats: Elite Force (TV), Mighty Med
Genre: Action, Alphabet, Comedy, Dating, F/F, F/M, Family, Friendship, Marriage, One Shot Collection, Pregnancy, Romance, Team Dynamics, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2020-01-06 00:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 52
Words: 23,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18376775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kihonne/pseuds/Kihonne
Summary: After finally defeating Mr. Terror and her team of villains, the heroes finally get a chance for peace. But that doesn't mean that their little vacation will be excitement-free. Set between seasons 2 and 3 of The Power of Seven. Contains characters from all my Elite Force stories.





	1. A is for Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own mighty med, lab rats, or the elite force, or anything from the original TV shows. I only own this story, Calla, Dani, Jaden, any other OCs present, and anything else you don't recognize.

"Spin?" Bob said suddenly as we looked around.

"Yeah Bob?" I sighed.

"How do we keep getting into these situations?" He questioned. I shook my head; the situation in question this time involved the two of us being trapped in a trash compactor, three states away from Mission Creek. The two of us were covered in garbage, and I was pretty sure that once they caught of a whiff of us, the others weren't going to let us back on the island until we'd showered…a couple of times.

"Three years of friendship and I still don't know." I replied, tracing my hand across the disgustingly sticky wall of the trash compactor.

"You know, I think I saw something like this in a movie once." Bob offered, trying to be helpful. "Maybe we can escape like they did?"

"They had a robot who shut the thing down so that the doors would open." I pointed out, giving him a deadpan look. "We do not."

"Oh, right. We probably should have thought about that earlier." He mentioned. I rolled my eyes.

"Next time you say 'hey, wanna go on an adventure' remind me to say no." I muttered. "Can't you levitate us out of here?"

"I barely fit through that hole in the first place!" Bob protested, obviously not keen to get out the way we'd come in.

"Well, the trash compactor should start any second, and then we'll be dead, so if you don't have any other ideas…" I pointed out. Just then, the door on our left, the one that had previously been locked, opened up and Daniel poked his head in. "Hey! How'd you find us?"

"Taylor put extra GPS trackers in your phones." He explained. I frowned; overprepared much. Daniel chuckled at my expression. "I think we've all gotten used to your little adventures, Spin."

"It was Bob's fault!" I protested, even as we followed him out.

"You're the one who agreed to come!" Bob pointed out, amused.


	2. A is also for Anniversary

"God, I'm tired." I complained, walking into my and Lily's room, tossing my sweater onto the chair by the door. It had been a long day, between chasing down the last of Bridget and Dr. Gao's minions and trying to keep the new heroes in line, and all I wanted was to eat dinner and curl up and watch a movie with my girlfriend. "Hey, I don't feel like cooking. You want to order…never mind." I stopped short in the doorway of the living room.

The table, an old thing I'd gotten on sale, was already set, tablecloth included, with a couple of candles sitting between two plates. I didn't even need to look at the plates to know what had been served – the heavy scent in the air told me that it was three-cheese lasagna, my favorite food.

"You hungry?" Lily asked, coming out of our tiny kitchenette carrying a tray of garlic bread. She was wearing a dress – that pretty red one with the pleated skirt – with her hair up.

"Uh, wow." I smiled, surprised. "This is amazing."

"Well, I thought we deserved something special." She replied, placing the tray down and wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Well, it is our day." I agreed, tracing the seams of her dress with my index finger. She ducked her head.

"Oh, thank god. I wasn't sure you would…" She trailed off, realizing how that sounded.

"Forget?" I finished her sentence. I gave her a mock-insulted look. "I know I've been busy lately, but not so busy that I would forget our anniversary?"

"Sorry." She murmured apologetically. "It's happened to me before."

"Well, not with me." I reminded her. She nodded, giving me a small smile. "Now, I don't think I've said it yet, but you look wonderful." She blushed. "But I might have something to add to your ensemble."

"Yeah, and what's that?" She inquired, eyeing me curiously. I stepped away from her and made a circle with my finger, motioning for her to turn around. She did so just as I pulled a red velvet box out of my purse. I quickly opened it and pulled out the white-gold chain. I wrapped it around the front of her neck before clasping the back.

"What do you think?" I asked, sitting down as she pulled out her phone to let herself look at it.

"Oh, I love it." She beamed, her fingertips grazing over the lily flower charm. "It's beautiful."

"I know a guy who's good with stuff like that." I mentioned as she sat down. She gave me a look.

"You always know a guy who can do anything. Where do you find people like this?" She teased.

"Actually, he's just one guy who multitasks." I laughed lightly. I picked up my fork, about to dig in when I stopped. "Hey, Lils?"

"Yeah?" She glanced up at me. I gave her a smile.

"I love you." I told her.


	3. B is for Birthday

I yawned tiredly, tapping my foot against the elevator floor. I'd just pulled yet another all-nighter in my office at the Davenport Industries Centium City Office, an unfortunate habit I'd started while Chase was out of town. His new job as deputy mayor had a few perks, one of which being a trip to Centium City's sister city in Australia. He hadn't wanted to go this time around – I was too tired to remember the reason – but hadn't had much of a choice. Not that I minded; his work was important, and with the amount of work I'd been putting into the Davenport Industries new holophones, I was too preoccupied to really notice that he was gone.

I swiped my key card through the scanner, then pushed the door open to a dark penthouse. Huh, the others must have gone out for the da-

"Surprise!" I jumped back as Adam, Leo, Bree, Jaden, Kaz, Oliver, Skylar, Kieran, Rio, Katherine, Taylor, and Chase jumped out from behind various objects, the lights flicking on to reveal blue balloons and a large, shiny banner above the fireplace. I stared at all of them, my sleep-deprived brain taking longer than usual to process the scene before me. "Happy Birthday!"

"Uh…" Usually, I'd have something more clever to say, but right now, I just settled for staring.

"Surprised?" Chase cooed, hugging me. I hugged him back before pulling away.

"Uh, well…yes." I answered honestly. "And a little confused."

"I caught an earlier flight so that I could surprise you." He explained. I nodded.

"No, I got that. I just…" I glanced at the others, then back at him. In a more hushed tone, I told him, "Chase, it's not my birthday."

He gave me a strange look. "Uh, yeah. It is."

"No, my birthday's next week…" I insisted, even as I lost conviction. Between the mounds of paperwork and the new designs at work, I'd barely looked at a calendar lately. But no, I would know if it were my birthday…right?

"You've got to stop pulling these all-nighters." He muttered.

"I don't disagree with you about that. But really, it's not my birthday. Look." I pulled out my phone to show him the date. He raised an eyebrow when he saw it. "Oh."

"Yeah." He chuckled, amused. I blinked, then looked back at the others, all of whom were watching me with amused smiles.

"Never mind. Happy birthday to me!" I declared, just deciding to go with it rather than dwell on that little embarrassment. Rio laughed at that.

"I told you that getting a coffee cake instead of a chocolate one was the better choice." She told Adam, before sending me a teasing smirk.

"Coffee." I zoned in on the word. Chase chuckled and put his arm around his shoulder.

"C'mon. I'll make you a triple espresso." He offered. "Since it's your birthday and all."

"I love you." I told him, leaning my head on his shoulder as he led me to the kitchen.


	4. B is also for Blizzard

"I hate the snow." Liam complained. I ignored him, swinging my leg over the edge of the windowsill. Thank goodness there were so many abandoned buildings in Minnesota – I doubted that we'd be able to get a hotel at this hour, and with the blizzard outside steadily getting worse, we needed the shelter.

"We're good." I called down to where he stood on the fire escape. I slid into the room, looking around. It wasn't very clean, but I'd seen worse. It would do for the time being. "We can stay here until the storm passes."

"Don't you have a spell to make it stop?" Liam questioned, shaking his head to clear bits of snow off of it. I rolled my eyes.

"I can't control the weather, genius." I replied dismissively. "I'm badass, but I'm no god."

"I don't know. Put on a dress, threaten to strike someone down if they don't worship you, and you could pass for one. Your codename  _is_  Nyx." He teased. I smirked, even as I crossed my arms, shivering as a gust of cold wind blew into the room. "You cold?"

"I need a thicker jacket." I muttered. Apparently, there was a strict rule about superheroes having to wear a uniform, and just the 'tough-looking black clothing' that most villains wore didn't cut it. Scarlet Ace had helped me find something that worked for my style, and though I did like what we came up with – a purple halter top, black pants, and a black jacket with purple trimmings – it wasn't very good at keeping oneself warm, especially not in the middle of a snowstorm.

"Here." He sighed, already unzipping his own jacket.

"No, it's fine." I waved him off before he could remove it. "It helps a bit, and me being a little cold is better than you freezing your ass off completely."

"If you say so." He shrugged, zipping it back up. He looked around. "Then at least let me do this."

Without explaining what he meant, he bent down and gathered up several old newspapers that had been scattered across the floor – I guess we weren't the only ones to squat here. He put them together in a pile, then stood up and aimed the palm of his hand at it. A beam of light burst from his hand and shone down on the newspapers. After a few seconds under the intense light, a single, lonely flame started to rise from the papers.

"Oh my God," I sighed, bending down and stretching my hands out towards the tiny heat source. Liam sat down next to me, leaning against the wall, smiling at me.

"We might as well make ourselves comfortable; we could be here awhile." He reasoned. I shrugged and slid backwards, pulling my legs up to my chest as I leaned close to him. He smirked and wrapped his arm around me, sharing his natural body heat with me. Maybe this blizzard wasn't the worst thing that could have happened…


	5. C is for Caldera

"Alright, almost there." Oliver told me, his hands on my shoulders gently leading me along a trodden path. The blindfold was silly really – I'd figured out where we were about twenty minutes ago – but I hadn't had the heart to ruin the surprise he'd tried so hard to put together. So, I let him guide me, carefully placing my steps to avoid tripping on any rocks. "Keep going, keep going, keep-"

"Going?" I guessed, smirking a bit. I heard him sigh. "I'm going, I'm going."

"Alright. Stop." He said after a couple more minutes of walking. "You ready?"

"No." I replied, curious what he would say to that. After a moment, I realized he was actually waiting for me to tell him I was. "Yes, I'm ready. Geez…"

I heard him chuckle just before the blindfold fell away. I blinked as the orangish light from the sun briefly blinded me. When I looked again, I saw that my guess was correct: we really were on my home planet of Caldera. A blue and white checked blanket sat on the red, rocky ground, along with a large wicker basket and a large transparent tubaware container. Inside the container was a white and pink cake, with something scrawled on the top in icing.

"Happy birthday, Skylar." Oliver beamed at me. I pecked him quickly on the lips before looking back at the set up.

"This is awesome." I grinned at him. I'd just been saying the other day how long it had been since I'd been back home.

"I figured you'd like it." Oliver agreed, sitting down on the picnic basket. He started pulling boxes, bottles, and bags out of the basket. "Okay, so I've got sandwiches, lemonade, soft pretzels-"

"Those ones from CJ's?" I asked, licking my lips. CJ had the best food cart is Centium City. Oliver nodded. "Oliver, you didn't have to do all this."

"I figured it's your birthday and you deserve something special." He replied. "I mean, it's nothing fancy, but…"

"It's perfect. I love it." I insisted.

"Yeah?" He asked, unsure. I took his hand.

"I would have been perfectly happy just spending the day with you." I promised him, leaning in for a kiss.


	6. C is also for Competition

"C'mon Adam!" Calla called, clapping her hands together. My brother gritted his teeth together, tensing his arm even more. Skylar did the same, not breaking her stare as they faced off. The two of them were arm-wrestling, but with more intensity than I'd ever seen.

Daniel just had to ask, didn't he? He just had to know whether bionics were more or less powerful than superpowers. It seemed silly to me, this little contest of ours, but the others were all dead set on finding out. We all watched eagerly, and then in excitement – or disappointment, depending on who you were – as Adam slowly started to gain ground. "Ha ha!" Adam laughed. Skylar looked at him, a strange smirk on her face.

"You lose." She told him. In a sudden burst of energy, she tensed her arm and slammed Adam's hand down on the table before leaping up in excitement.

"Boo!" "C'mon!" Leo and I protested, disappointment, though I had to smile when Skylar ran straight to Oliver, beaming like a kid on Christmas.

"Superpowers for the win!" Douglas declared, albeit reluctantly. He sighed. "Since Nyx's invisibility spell lasted half as long as Bree's app, that makes it a dead tie. Chase, Scarlet Ace, you're up."

"You've got this, Lily." "C'mon, Chase." Kaz and Leo called. Supposedly, the two of them had made some sort of wager on the outcome.

"Okay, you guys both have telekinetic abilities, so this should be simple." Douglas gestured at Lily and Chase to move to opposite sides of the room. He placed one of the kitchen chairs in the middle of room. "On the count of three – and not a second earlier – you'll try to telekinetically move it to your side. Got it?"

The two them nodded determinedly.

"Okay. One…two…" Douglas paused for a longer second. "Three!"

We watched as the chair lifted into the air, turning slowly as both of the heroes tried to move it to their side. "C'mon Chase!" Jaden cheered, on our side. After a couple of minutes, it became apparent that both of them were struggling to gain ground over the other; beads of sweat were appearing on Chase's forehead, while Lily kept changing her stance, as if she was trying to find a different hold on the chair. And for a moment, I wondered whether Chase could actually win.

That thought only lasted for a second though, because then there was a loud  _crack_ , and Chase and Lily both stumbled back, each dropping to the floor as pieces of the chair went flying at them. We all stared, even the two of them, at the shattered chair. I guess it wasn't made to handle that kind of abuse.

"Uh, I guess it's a tie?" Douglas shrugged, looking at them.

"What, no!" A few of the others protested, but most of us stayed quiet, exchanging relieved looks. I guess I wasn't the only one who was happy with not knowing.


	7. D is for Dating

"…And even though it was the totally wrong audition, I still ended up getting the part. My agent wouldn't stop laughing when he told me." Jessica continued, pausing to take a sip of her drink. I offered her a brief smile.

"Funny." I replied, not insincerely. I picked at my pasta, not really all that hungry. Honestly, I just wanted to get out of here, but that wouldn't really be fair to Jessica.

It wasn't that I didn't like the girl; she was funny, charming, gorgeous, and it was actually pretty cool that Calla had a friend in the film industry (even cooler still that she'd thought to set her friend up with me). But despite all that, and that we'd been on three dates already, I still just wasn't interested.

"Kaz?" I looked up as Jessica suddenly said my name. The blonde-haired girl was looking at me closely, looking almost as if she was waiting for me.

"Sorry, Jess. What did you say?" I apologized, sitting up. She gave me a gentle smile.

"I'm the rebound, aren't I?" She asked, her tone kind.

"No…" I started to deny it, but then she raised her eyebrow, not believing me, and I sighed. "It was Calla's idea."

"Bad break up?" She guessed. I shrugged. "How long were you together?"

"Uh…three years…ish." I wasn't sure what to call our relationship for that last year. "It's a long story."

"You miss her." It wasn't a question. I sighed.

"I'm sorry about all this. I should have…said something or…something." I apologized. She waved her hand, dismissing it.

"It's okay. Trust me, I've set friends up for the very same reasons." She assured me. She shrugged. "And honestly, it's better that I know now, before this started to go anywhere."

"I'm sorry." I apologized again.

"If you're not ready, you're not ready." She replied. "Maybe we can try again when you are? And for now it can just be two friends grabbing dinner?"

"Yeah, maybe…" I shrugged. I glanced at her. "You look nice, by the way. I should have said."

"Oh, thanks." Jessica pulled her jacket closer around her, blushing a bit. "So, Calla told me you were a doctor? For superheroes?"

"Oh, yeah." I sat up and started telling her a bit about work.

By time the night was over, I was in a bit of a better mood, but I didn't think we'd be going out again any time soon. I guess I was still hung up on Dani. I knew that she'd wanted me to be happy, and I suppose she thought that meant dating other people, but if I was truly honest with myself, there was really only one girl that I wanted to be with. And she was God knows where, doing God knows what.


	8. D is also for Deja Vu

I slipped through one of the skylight of the warehouse, using my powers to float down to the ground. I'd been tracking Lexi for almost four months now, and even though I'd lost her for a while, one of my sources found me a lead.

I raised my hand, using my lightning hand ability to help me see, shining the beam across the warehouse floor. Several crates and boxes were stacked around the building, though for the life of me, I had no idea what was in them. All I knew about them was that they all had the same logo printed on their sides: the red outline of a box with the letters SHIRT inside it. I figured maybe they were filled with material for one of those design-your-own-shirt stores.

Suddenly, a sound to my left caught my attention. Not bothering to waste time looking, I shot a blast of lightning at the source, but only managed to hit a couple of the boxes. "Come on out, Lexi!" I shouted, prepared for another attack.

"Whoa…" I spun around, about to attack again, but found myself face to face with Alivia. The red-headed hero had her hands raised, showing that she wasn't a threat. "Easy there, Dani."

"Liv." I sighed, dropping my hands. "What are you doing here? You tracking Lexi too?"

"No, I was the one who sent you these coordinates. I was looking for you." She replied. I frowned.

"Why? Is the League in trouble?" I questioned quickly. "Do you need my help?"

"The League's fine. I'm doing some recruiting, actually." She admitted. I rolled my eyes, knowing where this was going. I'd been expecting this from the moment I left Centium City.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm good as I am." I replied, turning to walk away, but she grabbed my arm.

"You can't keep doing this solo." She told me. I snorted, amused.

"Uh, yeah, I can. It's going pretty well." Between my searches for Lexi, I'd actually put a few bad guys behind bars. "Besides, you went solo for a while. Why can't I?"

"I distinctly remember you coming after me and talking me into creating the NLH." She reminded me before pausing. "Huh, déjà vu."

"I can't let Lexi get away, and if I don't hurry up, the trail's going to go cold." I told her, pulling my arm out of her grip. I started to walk away.

"The trail's already gone cold." My former best friend pointed out. I stopped. "Look, I get why you left the Elite Force. You needed to get your head straight, and they didn't trust you anymore. But the League could use you."

"What do you want to use me for this time?" I questioned. Alivia sighed.

"We could use an on-site medic." She admitted. "And I could use my best friend back."

I sighed; Alivia had always had this way of getting what she wanted. "Fine." I agreed reluctantly, hoping that I wouldn't regret this.


	9. E is for Eddy

"Oh my God, this is awesome." Kaz grinned, grabbing a piece of popcorn out of the bowl. I took another handful myself, popping a piece of the buttery goodness into my mouth.

"I should have done this ages ago." I murmured, listening to what absolutely had to be my all-time favorite argument.

"…Well, at least my coding doesn't look like a six-year-old built it!" Eddy retorted, his face on our TV screen.

"Well, at least a six-year-old would still do better than you." MISS replied, her voice sweet in that way that told you she was losing her patience. "I doubt you even know what PEBKAC is!"

"Of course I know what PEBKAC is!" Eddy argued. "Only idiots like Kaz don't know what PEBKAC is!"

"Hey, don't bring me into this!" Kaz snapped, offended. He then glanced at me. "Uh, what does PEBKAC mean?"

I rolled my eyes, ignoring him as I listened to my AI argue with Eddy's. "Besides, at least Donald thought to give me a screen. Calla never did that!"

"I didn't want a screen. I wanted access to all of Davenport Industries' networks." MISS retorted. "And I always get what I want."

Kaz looked at me. "You gave her access to all of Davenport Industries' networks just because she asked?" He questioned slowly. I nodded.

"Yeah, maybe I should have given that a second thought." I admitted as the two bickered. I'd never intended for them to meet really, though I'd always been curious how things would go down. I hadn't expected them to hate each other right off the bat, but I had to admit: it was pretty damn funny. And it definitely was better than Oliver's theory, which had been that they would try to take over the penthouse together.


	10. E is also for Envy

I tapped my foot impatiently, watching in annoyance as Liam and Angela ran across the gym together, the sounds of laughter and the basketball beating against the ground getting on my last nerve.

"Hey, what's going on?" I looked to my left to see Dani walking over to me. I nodded at her in greeting, not taking my eyes off my boyfriend and Angela. Dani frowned, then followed my gaze.

"…Are they not letting you play?" She asked after a moment, trying to diagnose the glare on my face. I ignored her.

"Do you not like basketball?" She tried. I ignored that one too. "Is it because they used to date?"

"Can't you go bother someone else?" Did Alivia really have to get her to join us?

"Ah." Dani nodded knowingly. "You're jealous."

"I know about six different spells that can kill you, right?" I questioned dryly. She shrugged, unbothered.

"You won't kill me." She assured me. I cocked an eyebrow at that.

"And what makes you so sure about that?" I retorted. She smirked, pulled her hair up into a ponytail, then started out onto the court.

"Hey, lightbulb, tap out. I wanna play." She told Liam, reaching out to catch the basketball before he could. He looked at her, genuinely offended, but she didn't move until he started off the court. Then, the electrokinetic spun around and faced Angela with a cocky smirk. "Bring it on."

The two began to dribble the ball across the court as Liam walked over to me. "Hey you." He asked, leaning in to kiss me on the forehead. I pushed him away, raising my nose is disgust. "Hey, what's up?"

"I'm going to go get something to eat." I decided, starting to walk away. He grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"You okay?" He questioned, brow furrowed.

"I'm fine." I insisted, walking out of the gym and down the hall. I heard him run after me, but ignored him.

"Hey, talk to me." He insisted, skidding to a stop in front of me. I didn't slow my pace, not until he stepped directly into my path. "What's eating you?"

"Just how many superhero girls did you date before we met?" I demanded, annoyed. He stopped, caught off guard by my question.

"Uh…why does it matter?" He replied, frowning.

"I just want to know what number I am. Alan mentioned it was a fairly high number." I insisted. "And don't deny that Crossbow's on the list."

"There isn't a list." He insisted. I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I admit, I dated around a bit…or a lot. But I'm not one of those guys that keeps a black book or anything."

"I'm sure." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm serious. I'm not one of those idiots. As for what number you are…if I did have a book, you'd be number one, alright?" He insisted. "And Crossbow, that was just one date, a long time ago."

I bit my lip, considering what he said. "Number one?" I repeated. He nodded, a tiny bit exasperated. "Alright, fine."

"Okay." He shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"Number one of how many?" I asked suddenly, this time teasing him. He looked at me sharply, unsure.

"God, you suck." He mentioned once he realized it was a joke.


	11. F is for Fire

"This was a great idea, Kath." Rio complimented as Adam and I returned with a pile of a wood in our arms. My girlfriend smirked, crossing her legs and raising her hands to the fire as I tossed a few more scraps of wood and branches into it.

"You should thank Leo, actually." She replied. "He's the one who thought o' it."

"I just thought it would be fun. Besides, it was Officer Parker who let us use her land for it." I replied, shrugging nonchalantly as we stroked the fire. Once the flames were getting pretty tall, I sat down on the sleeping bag next to Katherine. She smiled and offered me a marshmallow, before turning back to Bob.

"So, who was 'hat girl you were talkin' to on the phone earlier?" She inquired, her tone teasing. Bob's face turned bright red, embarrassed.

"No one." He insisted, clamping his mouth shut.

"Her name is Zoe." Spin supplied. Bob spun around to glare at him, but Spin just laughed it off.

"When I find out which girl at the Academy you have a thing for, I'm going to tell everyone." Bob threatened. Spin rolled his eyes.

"I'm not interested in any of the girls at the Academy." He replied.

"Uh, Spin?" Logan called. He nodded at Spin's marshmallow, which had caught fire.

"Crap!" Spin pulled it back in, blowing on it hard. Kieran chuckled, amused, as he placed his marshmallow, the perfect shade of golden brown, on a graham cracker.

"It takes a little practice, man." He assured the youngest member of our group before looking at Taylor, the smore held in his hand.

"You want mine? I can make another." He offered. She smiled and accepted his offer, taking the smore from him.

"This is good." She grinned, taking a bite of the treat.

"Kieran's just good at making smores." Rio frowned. She glanced at Adam. "You know, I'd like a smore too."

"Uh…" Adam looked at him marshmallow, already a smoldering black mess. "You sure about that?"

"Nevermind." Rio sighed dramatically, shaking her head. I chuckled, wrapping my arm around Katherine's shoulders and taking in the heat of the fire. It was great to just be able to hang out with my friends, and not just while on missions. I just wished we could do it more often.


	12. F is also for Flowers

"Yes, Tasha, I'm taking my vitamins." I rolled my eyes at my step-mother's worrying as I jiggled my key in my apartment's lock. I gritted my teeth together, frustrated as it refused to open. It was always sticking – I would have to get Jaden to fix that.

" _I just want to make sure. I know Donald never really talked to you about any of this stuff growing up."_ Tasha reminded me. I nodded, smiling triumphantly as the locked finally turned.

"I know, and I appreciate it." I assured her as I opened the door, then slowly reached down to grab the large bag full of Rocky Road ice cream containers. "I just…" I trailed off, stepping into the apartment. "Tasha, I'm going to have to call you back." I hung up the phone, then called, "Jaden!"

"Yes?" He came jogging out from the bathroom, a falsely-innocent look on his face.

"What is this?" I demanded, smiling as I gestured to the kitchen. There was a bouquet of flowers in a vase on the kitchen counter, and another on the kitchen table, both of them made of daffodils ranging from white to pink to orange. The oven was on, and I could taste the scent of cooking chicken in the air.

"You weren't supposed to get back for another twenty minutes. The chicken isn't done." He sighed regretfully. I laughed easily and walked up to him, putting my hands around the back of his neck.

"What is this?" I repeated my questioned, still smiling at the surprise.

"Well, my beautiful bride," he said the word with pride, smiling down at me, "I thought we should celebrate, what with you finally getting your Bachelor of Arts degree. I mean, you worked your ass off to get it."

"I did, didn't I?" I sat down at the kitchen counter as he went to check on dinner.

"Yeah, you did." He agreed, reaching into the fridge and pulling out a bottle of champagne. I raised an eyebrow at it, and he rushed to reassure me. "Alcohol-free and baby-safe." He promised, pouring me a glass. I smiled, taking it from him, rubbing my somewhat swollen stomach.

"See? I told you your daddy is smart." I murmured to it. Jaden glanced over his shoulder at me, smiling, before pouring himself a glass and leaning on the counter, facing me.

"So how are my two favorite girls doing today?" He inquired. I laughed.

"You are so certain that it's a girl. How do you know he's not a boy?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I just think a miniature you, with my eyes, running around would be cute." He sighed. "I totally want a little Justine."

"Or a baby Noah." I added.

"Or little Noah." He agreed, tapping his glass against mine. I smiled, leaning in to sniff the flowers on the counter. Whatever this kid turned out to be, I knew that they'd grow up loved, and that was all I cared about.


	13. G is for Ghost

"Okay, this isn't fun anymore." I decided, slowly circling the room with Logan's back to mine. The two of us stuck close to each other, ready to attack, just in case the rumors were true. There'd been weird sounds coming from the training center for the past several nights, but for some reason the cameras weren't picking anything up. So, probably as a result from the lack of adult supervision and reassure on the island, everyone here had chalked it up to the Academy being haunted. And they'd volunteered me and Logan to go check it out.

Now I didn't believe in ghosts, not at all – it was scientifically impossible – but now that I was here, in the middle of the training room, the only light in the room coming off of my bo staff, I had to admit that I was pretty freaked out.

Logan and I both jumped as a loud crashing sound came from my left. We spun around to face the sound, weapons raised, but nothing was there. "Guys, if this is a prank, it's not funny." Logan stammered nervously, adjusting his grip on the weapon. Suddenly, another noise hit the air, like something slamming into metal, coming from the storage closet at the opposite end of the room. Logan and I both exchanged looks.

"Well, I'm not checking." I commented. He gulped, then nodded and slowly made his way towards the storage closet. I started to follow behind him, only to stop when another sound came from the opposite corner of the room. The corner was completely dark, making it impossible to see what had made the noise.

I took a step towards the darkness, when suddenly, two glowing, red eyes were staring back at me. I screamed loudly in both surprise and genuine fear, leaping back just as Logan did the same. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw a pale, white hand sticking out from the still-closed closet door, the hand moving on its own as it tried to grab at Logan.

"Holy shit!" I swore, eyes widening and breathing hard. Just then, laughter filled the air.

"Oh my god." Adam stepped out of the dark corner, wearing a completely black outfit, including a mask that covered most of his face. A secondary laugh came from the storage closet as Rio stepped out from it, using her phasing ability to walk through the door. Her hand as white as a sheet, painted all the way up to her elbow.

Logan and I both stared at them as they laughed at us, clearly amused by our terror. "You…you…seriously?" Logan demanded, pointing at them. They both laughed harder.

"You are a terrible sister." I told Rio, dead serious. She laughed, wiping tears from her eyes.

"It was Adam's idea." She admitted. She gave me a wide smile. "But you have to admit, it was pretty funny."

"Why?" Logan demanded, staring at them. Adam sighed happily.

"Why not?" He chuckled as he led my sister out of the room. Logan and I watched them go, just stunned.


	14. G is also for Gift Giving

"This is ridiculous, you know that, right?" Alivia reminded me, even as she handed me a roll of scotch tape. "I mean seriously, borderline crazy, ridiculous."

"No, it's not." I dismissed the idea, holding out the tape as I tried to figure out how to do this.

"Why must you two make everything a competition?" Alivia sighed, exasperated. I scoffed.

"Please, Barry and Angela are worse. Or, hell, Dani and Rani? They pretty much destroyed the gym trying to outdo each other." I pointed out. "Compared to them, Liam and I are saints."

"Well, them I kinda get. I mean, B and Crossbow both use the same weapon, so it makes sense for them to try and figure out who's better," Alivia reasoned, "and Rani and Dani have history, so there's that, but this…there is literally no common sense to this!"

"Why not?" I questioned, giving her a look. She raised an eyebrow.

"Love, you and Liam are having, and I quote, 'a birthday present war that you must win at all costs'." She reminded me. I nodded, and she let out a sigh. "Lils, how is that something sane people do?"

"Why wouldn't they do that? It makes things more fun." I replied. "Now, you can either leave me to my work, or you can grab some more scotch tape and help me wrap this giant panda."

She looked at me, shaking her head. "I hope Rani's having a better time than me." She muttered, even as she swiped another roll of scotch tape off of the counter. I grinned, pleased with her decision. "What is Melody even going to do with a giant stuffed panda?"


	15. H is for Hockey

"This is a stupid sport!" Rani shouted in indignation as she struggled to stay upright on the ice rink. I couldn't help but laugh as I skated over to her.

"C'mon, it's easy. Just take the stick," I bent down to pick up her fallen stick, "here, and try to shoot."

"It's not easy." She insisted, annoyed. I gave her a look. "Look, it might be easy for you…you crazy Canadian," I laughed at that, amused, "but normal people realize that if we were meant to stand on ice, it wouldn't be so slippery."

God, she was cute when she was frustrated. "C'mon, Shadows. If Alan can do it, so can you."

She scowled, looking past me at the shapeshifting boy. Alan was indeed managing to stay upright on his skates, actually doing a good job of playing the position of goalie as Melody and Alivia took turns taking shots at him. Though, judging by the softness of her shots, I had to guess that Melody was going easy on him.

Dani and Barry speeding around the rink with ease, the latter racing after the former as Dani tried to lap him. Angela, not wanting anything to do with this crazy sport (apparently, her and Rani had compared notes prior to coming to the rink), was sitting on the sidelines, drinking cocoa with Ricky, the two of them laughing at something I couldn't quite make out.

"Ugh!" Rani cried out, cursing under her breath as she slipped again, reaching out instinctively to break her fall. She gripped my arm, regaining her balance. "What is wrong with just sitting inside and reading?"

"Because that's no fun. C'mon." I skated around her so that her back was pressed against my front. I put the hockey stick in her hands, my hands on top of hers. "Okay, one shot on Alan, then we can go inside, deal?"

"I hate you." She muttered.

"No you don't." I scolded lightly. She sighed.

"No I don't." She agreed reluctantly. "Alright, so how do I do this?"


	16. H is also for Home

"Seriously?" I exclaimed in frustration as I found myself staring at the doorway to the gym. I'd been at the NLH for a month and a half now and I still couldn't figure out these crazy halls. I couldn't remember where I'd taken a wrong turn, but clearly I must have, because this was not where I wanted to be.

"Lost again, Dani?" I turned to see Barry walking down the hall towards me. I smiled widely at him, relieved to see a familiar face.

"Constantly." I sighed, throwing my hands up in the air dramatically. He chuckled. "I was trying to get out of here."

"How come?" He frowned, confused. I shrugged.

"I've never really seen the city before, and New York's always been on my list of places to see. Since we're between missions and all, I figured what the hell?"

"Mind if I tag along?" He gestured down the hallway I'd just come from. I followed him as he led me (hopefully) in the direction of an exit. "If you get lost this easily in the base, you're never going to find your way out of the city."

"Sure." I shrugged, not minding the company.

**Xxx**

"Damn this is good." I licked my lips, tasting the ketchup-y aftertaste. "I didn't know there were street venders who'd make tofurky dogs."

"I know. They're awesome." Barry replied before taking a large bite out his own dog.

"So," I asked after a moment, "how's Jordan?" Barry looked at me, a little surprised by the question. "C'mon, I know you two are dating. How's she doing?"

"Uh, she's good." He nodded. "We're good."

I smiled, pleased that at least one of us had a decent love life. "You going to tell her about all this?"

"I'm not allowed, right?" He asked, his tone serious, but the corner of his lips started tugging upwards.

"Is that really going to stop you?" I asked. He chuckled, confirming my theory. "She's going to think it's cool."

"I hope so." He agreed. We walked down a street a little more, taking in the sights. "So, how are you doing? After Kaz?"

"God, I SO don't want to talk about that." I muttered, rubbing my hand over my face. He gave me a sympathetic smile. "I screwed that up so badly, Bear."

"I'm sure that's not true…" He tried, but I shook my head.

"Everything that went wrong was my fault." I sighed, shaking my head. "Letting him go was the best thing I could have done for him. He deserves someone better."

"I can't think of anyone who would be better suited for him than you." He pointed out. I rolled my eyes.

"Trust me, there's someone, and he'll find her." I insisted. I looked around at the city, no longer enjoying the day trip. Kaz and I had always talked about taking a road trip out here after graduation. It was supposed to be us out here, not me and Barry.

"Hey," Barry nudged my shoulder, noticing my change in attitude. "You wanna go home?"

I sighed softly, then nodded. "Home it is."


	17. I is for Ice

"I'm bored." Katherine complained, staring at her phone. "We been in here for days. I wanna go out an' do somethin'."

"I have an idea." I offered. Katherine and Leo exchanged looks before the former let out a groan. "It's a good one this time, I swear."

"You said that last time, Logan." Kieran pointed out.

"But it really is a good one." I insisted. "Rio thinks so."

"Oh, in that case, I'm in." Leo replied. I looked at him, hurt and he rolled his eyes. "I'm kidding, man. What's the idea?"

**Xxx**

"Whoo!" Rio laughed, speeding past us. I chuckled, then watched in amusement as my breath turned white before my eyes. After telling the others my idea, several of the heroes at the Academy had followed me out to Mission Creek. Now, bundled up in warm jackets, soft mittens, and plastic helmets, we found ourselves standing in a brightly lit hockey arena.

"This was a great idea, Logan." Taylor complimented as she and Kieran skated by me, the latter guiding her forward by her hands.

"Thanks." I grinned, skating after them. At least I started to, until Kate suddenly knocked into me. "Whoa." I grabbed her arm, balancing her.

"I'm sorry Logan, I've never been skating before." She apologized as she struggled to stay upright on unsteady legs.

"It's okay. The only reason the rest of us know how is because Leo dragged us last Christmas." I replied. I looked at her, then offered my arm. "Here, just grab onto my arm."

"Thanks." She beamed at me, grabbing a hold of me tightly.


	18. I is also for Illness

I was dying.

Really, there's no other logical explanation. 'The Flu' didn't seem to cover how I was feeling. I was dying.

No matter how many times Calla insists that I wasn't.

I coughed miserable, lying my head against the toilet seat, soaking in the coolness of the porcelain as the water inside swirled around. My stomach was still churning uncomfortably and I was convinced that even the thought of moving would send my nausea over my limits and sending me gagging into the toilet bowl once more.

My theory was confirmed when I made the mistake of looking up when I heard a small crash from downstairs.

"Oh, honey." Calla cooed sympathetically when she found me spitting into the water. I felt her hand rub my back gently as she knelt down next to me. "Poor baby."

"Poor  _dying_  baby." I corrected between hiccups.

"You're not dying." She scolded, still rubbing my back gently. "Sick as a dog, maybe. But not dying."

"I wish I was dying. Dying's got to be better than this." I muttered. She laughed softly, moving her hand from my back to the back of my neck as I leaned back on my hands. She handed me a bottle of water, then turned so that she could lean more comfortably against the bathroom cabinets. She gave me a thin, encouraging smile, then grabbed a pack of crackers that she'd brought up with her. "They might settle your stomach." She offered. I shook my head, unable to even think about what they would do to me. "Chase…"

"Later." I promised her, giving her a weak smile. Her hand returned to my back, her slow, gentle rubs doing a little to help. "What was that crash about?"

"Someone put the crackers on the top shelf and I needed to climb on one of the stools to get them." She explained.

"You fell?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I fell." She admitted with a great sigh. "Being vertically challenged isn't very fun."

"Neither is dying." I insisted. She chuckled softly.

"You have me there." She replied. I sighed, rubbing at my eyes. "You done?"

"Don't know. Might stay in here a bit longer." I replied. She nodded, not moving from her spot. "Calla, you should go to bed."

"Nah, I'm good." She brushed off the idea. But as sweet as that was, she really needed to get some sleep.

"You have that meeting at eight." I reminded her.

"I can cancel it." She assured me. I gave her a look. "Babe, I'm the boss. I can do whatever I want."

"If you insist." I sighed; there was little point in arguing with her on a normal day, and right now I just didn't have the energy to try. "I hate this."

"I know." She cooed, leaning forward to run her hand through my hair. "Is it better or worse than before?"

I contemplated my answer for a minute. "Better." I answered begrudgingly.

"Told you you weren't dying." She teased lightly.


	19. J is for Job

"Yeah, I'll send some guys out right away." I promised.

" _Good, 'cause I'm kinda on a clock, DeCook."_  Arciere insisted. Rolling my eyes, I raised a hand to wave my girlfriend over to me.  _"I've got a girl to see."_

"Likewise. Good work." I hung up my phone as Faith walked over to me. I sent a quick text to some of my guys, telling them that they had a pickup in lower Manhatten, before smiling at her. "Wow."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Faith laughed lightly, running a hand through her sable brown hair. I'd known that she was thinking of getting it cut – the whole long, curly look had lost its appeal to her – but I hadn't expected her to go full pixie cut on me.

"Absolutely. You look stunning." I complimented, gesturing for her to take a seat. "Oh, I got you a tea."

"Thank you." She smiled, taking the mug from me. "Hey, so Sienna said you dropped by the office. How come you didn't come by the lab?"

"Because I wasn't there for you." She frowned, confused. "Arthur Bossetti offered me a job."

"Wait, seriously?" Her jaw dropped, her dark brown eyes lighting up in shock and excitement. "What department?"

"Field operations. It'd be just like what I do now for UPSEI, but with more resources." I replied. She beamed. "By the way, your company has the dumbest name ever."

"Without a doubt. Are you going to take the job?" She questioned, leaning forward.

"I'm thinking about it." I admitted, enjoying the sparkle in her eyes.

"You have to! We'll be able to work together!" She insisted, grinning. "And you'll be able to test out my new gadgets and stuff. Not to mention, we'll have more time together, even on those nights that one of us have to work late."

"That does sound appealing." I admitted. She smirked.

"Take the job." She encouraged. I sighed, then nodded.

"Okay. I'll call him back, tell him I'm in." I replied. She clapped her hands together happily.

"This is going to be so awesome." She grinned, and I couldn't help but smile back at her.


	20. J is also for Jogging

I dropped to my knees, unable to keep going. I'd tried my best, had given it my all, but it was just too much. "I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't keep going. Just leave me here to die." I murmured, ducking my head in exhaustion. "Tell the others I did my best."

A moment later, Dani knelt down next to me, an exasperated look on her face. "Alan," She said slowly, lips twitching in amusement, "we've only be jogging for twenty minutes."

"Only?" I repeated incredulously, staring up at her. Her lips twitched upwards, vaguely amused before standing up and offering me her hand. Sighing dramatically, I accepted it and got to my feet. "I can't believe I agreed to come jogging with you."

"Neither can I." She admitted with a soft chuckle. "C'mon Alan, stop whining. I need a jogging partner while Barry's in Philadelphia."

"Why do you have to have a partner? It's not like someone'll kidnap you or something." I grumbled.

"Because it's boring to do it alone." She admitted. I sighed. "C'mon, if you keep going with me, I'll give you some tips for how to ask Melody out."

I looked up at her sharply. "I wasn't going to ask her out."

"Really?" She wasn't convinced.

"I don't even like her." I insisted. She raised an eyebrow, then shrugged.

"Alright then," she replied slowly. "Then I guess if you don't want the advice, I'll just go jogging on my own."

She bent down, adjusted her shoe lace, then took off jogging down the path. I waited a moment to see if she would stop, all the while thinking over her offer. Then, after sighing irritably, I ran after her. "Oh, hey!" She let out a laugh as I caught up. "I thought you were done?"

"Those had better be some good tips." I grumbled, keeping pace with her.


	21. K is for Keys

"This is silly. We should just go." I complained, pinching the bridge of my nose. Icy-cold raindrops bounced off my hood, and I shivered, pulling my rain jacket closer around me.

"I almost got it!" Adam called. He was lying in the middle of a puddle, propped up by his elbows as he looked into the grate. One hand held a piece of string, pulled from the bottom of my sweater.

"It's not going to work." I told him.

"Don't worry; I saw Calla do this once." He assured me. I raised an eyebrow.

"It worked for her?" I questioned. He paused.

"Well, no. After about five minutes, she lost her patience and called Chase. But it would have worked if she gave it a little more time." He insisted. I sighed irritably, standing up and walking over to him. I could just barely make out the hand-made hook tied to the bottom of the string, the glint of the paper clip gleaming only a couple of inches away from the keys my boyfriend had dropped down the drain.

"Can we go back to the island now?" I requested, shivering again. I was usually a pretty up-beat person, but the rain never failed to dampen my mood.

"No!" He retorted, not looking up at me. "I promised you a nice weekend away from the island, and this is the only weekend that Tasha, Naomi, and Davenport are out of town for the next three months!"

"I don't mind the island." I knelt down, not quite getting in the water but bringing myself down to his level, and patted his shoulder. "We could 'borrow' Calla or Jaden's old bedrooms. No one would know…never mind."

Adam let out a happy noise as he slowly drew the string back up the sewage grate, the keys just barely hanging off the edge of the makeshift hook. "Told you." He scooped the keys up in his hand, grinning triumphantly.

"Yes, and you can tell me how right you were about that inside. Where it's warm." I urged him. He nodded and ran up to the door. Smiling at the silly idiot I loved, I followed him.

"Uh, baby?" He paused, turning to give me a sheepish grin that I knew all too well. I sighed.

"What?" I wasn't going to like the answer.

"…These are the wrong keys." He told me, biting his lip. I sighed and closed my eyes, then gestured at the sewage grate.

"Let's try again." I gave in. He grinned, then raced towards the grate. I shook my head, then followed him. Thank God he was cute.


	22. K is also for Kids

"So what do you think of this?" I turned at Calla's question, smirking a little when I saw her holding up a pink baby onesie.

"We don't know what their gender is yet." I reminded her as I searched for an alternative baby shower gift.

"Well, I hope it's a girl." She sighed, putting the onesie back on the shelf. I raised an eyebrow and she smiled. "We both know that whatever the kid turns out to be, Jay's going to teach them how to play football, and the idea of him trying to teach a little girl in a tutu how to spin a football in the air is just the cutest thing ever."

I shrugged, not disagreeing with her. "I still can't believe they're going to be parents." I commented, looking around.

"Neither can I." She agreed. She chuckled. "I don't think anyone can. Remember all the jokes they all made about  _us_  having a baby once they found out we'd be sharing a room at the Penthouse?"

"Yeah." I smiled, reminiscing. I glanced back at my wife, who was kneeling down near a shelf of baby clothes. "Hey, you know, we never really talked about it."

"Talked about what?" Calla asked distractedly as she rummaged through the clothes in search for something gender-neutral.

"Having a baby, a kid." I said, watching for her reaction. She stopped what she was doing, then looked up at me.

"I mean, it's never really be a good time…" She stood up slowly. "Between Roddisieus and Bridget, and then dealing with the fallout of everything afterwards…" She paused. "Do you  _want_  kids?"

"Maybe." I admitted. "You?"

"Maybe." She replied. We both looked at each other for a long moment. "This is a riveting conversation, Chase."

I laughed at that. "I mean, I don't know about right now, but yeah, someday I'd like kids."

"Honestly? I want to wait a bit." She nodded. "As much as I love the idea of a little you or little me running around, I just don't see how we're supposed to raise kids while saving the world. I mean, the two don't really mix, right?"

"Bree and Jaden are going to try it." I reminded her. She nodded, smiling a little.

"Exactly. I say we wait and watch them do it, and keep track of where they go wrong." She explained. I nodded, figuring out where she was going with this.

"You want to learn from their mistakes." I realized. She nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, their situation is about as close to ours as we'll ever find. Might as well see what works for them before we try and screw up our own kid." She reasoned.

"So we wait." I said. She nodded.

"We wait." She agreed.

"But one day?" I confirmed. She leaned in close, our foreheads nearly touching.

"One day," She smiled, "we'll have nine of them. Enough to fill a softball team."

I laughed at that as she turned back to the clothes. Then I realized she wasn't laughing. "You're joking?" I called. She didn't answer. "Calla?"


	23. L is for Lesson

"I give up!" I chuckled lightly, watching my sister slam her spoon down on the counter. I grabbed her arm as she went to storm out. "Let me go, Jaden. I'm done."

"Oh, c'mon. You're not doing that bad." I promised her, grabbing my own spoon and dipping it in the soup. One taste was enough to tell me that I was wrong. "Okay, so maybe soup isn't your thing."

"Cooking isn't my thing, Jay." Calla scowled. She crossed her arms, glaring at the kitchen as a whole.

I gave her a look. "C'mon. You're telling me that you can design weapons and inventions no one's ever dreamed of, fly a jet AND a helicopter, and even fight supervillains, but you can't cook anything at all?"

Calla nodded, serious. "That's exactly what I'm telling you, yes."

I chuckled, put my hands on her shoulders, and led her back to the kitchen. "C'mon."

Calla sighed in defeat, allowing me to make her try again. I smiled inwardly; I'd always wanted to be that big brother that taught his younger siblings things, but Calla had outsmarted me by the age of nine, had never shown any interest in sports, and, after some cryptic message that a future version of Leo brought back to the past, had refused to let me teach her to drive, so this was the first time I really felt like I had something I could teach her. "I hate this."

"We'll try something easy. Omelets are easy, right?" I assured her.

Two hours, three fire extinguishers, and four dozen eggs later, Calla had managed to make a semi-edible omelet, and I felt a sense of accomplishment.


	24. L is also for Leverage

"Should we ask, or…" Logan trailed off, gesturing vaguely at the scene before us. I frowned, crossing my arms. A part of me wanted an explanation, but another part of me wondered if we should just stay out of it.

Katherine and Leo were both oblivious to our stares, the two of them exchanging amused looks as Kieran brought out yet another tray of food for them, this one filled with bacon and cooked ham. At least Leo thanked him for the food; Katherine just smirked and started piling some onto her plate. Logan and I watched with a mixture of pity and confusion as Kieran continued this for a while, even going so far as to get them coffee and orange juice refills every time they asked, even after it became obvious that the two of them were only drinking and eating so much so fast because they wanted to see him wait on them.

"Okay, that's it." I muttered as I watched my brother bring out yet another plate full of hot pancakes.

"Hey, you guys hungry? Kieran's cooking." Leo offered as Logan and I walked over.

"Sure. I'd love…to skip breakfast." Logan changed the direction of his reply with one swift look from me.

"We need to talk." I grabbed Kieran by the sleeve and pulled him into the Academy's kitchen.

"What?" He demanded, annoyed. I gave him a stern look, then took the plate of pancakes out of his hands.

"Why?" I countered with my own question. He hesitated.

"Why what?" He questioned, playing dumb. I placed the plate down on the counter, hard, then put my hands on my hips.

"This is the fifth day in a row that I've watched you wait on Katherine and Leo for breakfast, not to mention lunch and dinner too. What gives?"

"Nothing. I'm just…doing them a favor." He paused, obviously having realized how much that sounded like a lie. "Stay out of it, Rio."

"No." I shook my head. "Let me help. I know that Katherine and you don't exactly get along and if she's making you…oh my god, is she blackmailing you?" He didn't answer right away. "Oh my God, she's blackmailing you!"

"Leo, actually." He muttered, looking down. I sighed.

"I'm going to deal with it." I promised him. He stopped me.

"No, c'mon Rio, stay out of it." He begged me. I looked at him and he gave me a half-smile. "Look, the deal was they would delete this video if I cooked all their meals for them and served them for a week. It's just two and half more days. Just let me handle it."

"What video?" I asked. He didn't answer. "I won't tell anyone, I promise."

"Alright. Leo kinda caught me…singing…in the shower." Already embarrassed, his face started turning red. I stifled a laugh. "Rio!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, just…what song?" I asked. He shook his head.

"That's all you're getting from me." He insisted. I nodded.

"Okay." I grabbed the plate of pancakes again. He frowned, confused.

"What are you doing?" He questioned.

"Helping you." I replied, shrugging. "Now go get them a refill – Katherine's already done her orange juice?"

"Again?" He muttered, walking back to the fridge. I turned on my heel and walked back out to their table. Placing the plate down on the table, I leaned in close.

"What song?" I repeated my question, knowing they'd understand. They grinned at each other.

"Stronger. The Kelly Clarkson one." Leo chuckled. I sighed, dropping my head.

"You guys are terrible friends." I remarked.

"We know." Katherine agreed, smirking.


	25. M is for Mistletoe

"Why do you hate me?" I complained as Alivia dragged me – literally pulling me along by my wrist – into the cafeteria. Christmas music was playing as loud as the speakers could handle it, the scent of eggnog (Angela's 'special' batch and another one made by Lily for all those underage) thick in the air. Three Christmas trees had been set up in three of the corners of the room, each decorated to the brim with colorful balls and trinkets, with the fourth corner being taken up by a beautiful silver table with an almost glowing menorah sitting in the center.

"I do not hate you. Stop being a wuss." My best friend scolded. I gave her a look. "You can't just not celebrate the holidays, Dee."

"Watch me." Christmas used to be my favorite time of year – between late night hot cocoa-induced talks with Skylar, competiting with Ollie to see who could buy the other the uglier sweater, and laughing at all of Kaz's weird Christmas traditions, I'd always loved the holidays. But after spending the last one with my mother and her evil minions and this one being away from every member of my family, I wasn't in the mood to celebrate.

"You'll have fun." She promised me, putting her arm around my shoulder and leading me into the center of the room. Surprisingly, it wasn't just the main team that was here. A few of the heroes we'd been recruiting over the past few months to help protect the other countries of the world were here as well, everyone from Gardiyan to Defroster. Even Captain Atomic was here, telling stories to some of the younger heroes about what Christmases had been like when he was growing up.

Alivia and I got separated pretty quickly – as the hostess, she had to make the rounds and say hi to everyone – so I headed for the eggnog station. If she was going to force me to be here, I might as well try to relax, right?

A few cups of Angela's eggnog later and I found myself getting pushed through the crowd as I searched for my favorite redhead. "Hey!" I exclaimed Titanio accidently backed into me, causing me to trip. I scowled, annoyed at both him for knocking me over and at Alivia for making me wear heels.

"Need a hand?" I looked up to see another hero – a tall, skinny fellow with a dark brown crew cut wearing a dark grey uniform with golden accents and boots. He offered me a gloved hand. I smiled and took it, letting him help me up.

"Thanks, I…seriously?" I cut myself off, staring at the green leaves hanging above our heads. He followed my gaze in confusion, then chuckled. "Well…"

"Whatever." I muttered, standing up fully before giving him a quick kiss on the lips, keeping it chaste and innocent. He smirked, pulling away. "I hate Christmas."

"Not much of a fan myself either." He agreed. He looked at me. "Short Circuit, right?"

"My friends call me Dani." I replied dismissively.

"We're friends now?" He chuckled, amused. I shrugged.

"Well I did kiss you, so we might as well become something." I reasoned. He nodded.

"Alright, Dani. The name's Tempest, but you can call me Christian." He told me, giving me a charming smile. I smiled back at him, starting to wonder if this party didn't suck after all. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Yes, you can." I replied. He offered me his arm and I took it, letting him lead me to the eggnog table.


	26. M is also for Moonlight

"This is amazing." I beamed, leaning back into the passenger seat to look at Adam. He leaned back in his own seat to grin back at me and I couldn't help but laugh.

"You have something…" I leaned forward, using my thumb to wipe a little bit of ketchup off the corner of his lips. This was just the perfect night – a picnic of fries and burgers, bathed in moonlight, up on the roof of the Academy. It was exactly what I wanted for our anniversary. There was just one thing bugging me… "So, how did you get a car up here? On the roof of the Academy…which is also on an island?"

"A true magician never reveals his secrets." He teased. I raised an eyebrow at him, placing my hand between my head and the head cushion. "Okay, I don't know. I told Bob what I was thinking for tonight and he suggested that having our date in a car outside would be romantic, and then he ran off. Three hours later he tells me he got the car. I don't even know whose car this is."

I laughed at his story, not even the slightest bit surprised that Bob could do something so wonderful and weird for his friend. It was always something new with this is island. "Classic Bob." I sighed happily. Adam looked at me for a long moment, then smiled.

"Yeah well, that surprise in the glove compartment is from me, not Bob." He told me, nodding his chin at the compartment. I gave him a confused smile, excited to see what he'd gotten me, then hit the button to open the glove compartment.

A single item – a small black box – was sitting against the back of the compartment. I shot Adam a look – had he gotten me earrings? – before reaching in and pulling it out. But when I opened the box, it most certainly was not earrings.

"Oh my." I gaped as I stared down at the beautiful, golden ring with tiny diamonds embedded in the band, a single, large diamond sprouting from the front of it. "Oh, Adam…"

"Marry me." He smiled at me, eyes a glow. I bit my lip and nodded, tears already sprouting in the corner of my eyes.

"Okay." I agreed, a happy giggle escaping my lips. He grinned and leaned in to kiss, his lips crashing into mine.


	27. N is for Nightmare

I frowned, opening my eyes. I didn't have to look at a clock to know that it was still too late – or too early, assuming it was past midnight – for any reasonable person to be awake. But somehow, that didn't stop whoever had just opened and closed my apartment door. I was about to get up to go deal with the intruder (what kind of idiot breaks into a superhero's apartment anyway?) when my bedroom door opened up. From my spot in bed, I could just make out the intruder's face, her features barely illuminated from the faint light outside my bedroom.

"Hey." I blinked in confusion, looking up at my girlfriend. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing. Go back to sleep," Rani told me, not unkindly, as she walked around the edge of the bed just to climb under the covers on the other side. She laid down without another word, bending her arm to use it as a pillow. I just looked at her, genuinely bewildered. After all, I was used to girls sneaking out of my room in the middle of the night, not sneaking in.

"Uh…" I deadpanned, sitting up slightly. "Would you like a pillow?"

There was a long moment of silence where I thought she might have fallen asleep, then she reached out behind her, her hand grabbing for a pillow. I handed her one of mine and she adjusted it under her head, still not turning around. Okay, this was just weird.

"Uh, did you have a nightmare?" I guessed. I knew she had them every now and then, almost all of them resulting from her time as Dr. Wrath's student – I knew there was there were a lot of things haunting her from back then, more than she would admit to. When she didn't answer, I knew I'd hit a nerve. "You want to talk about it?"

"No." Her irritable reply was accompanied with a tug at the covers. I rolled closer to her, giving her more of the sheets.

"Are you sure?" I pressed.

"I don't want to talk about it." She insisted, annoyed. I frowned.

"Then, not that you should leave, what are you doing in here?" I asked, baffled and not understanding what she could possibly want. There was a long pause before she answered.

"I don't get them in your bed." She muttered, her tone embarrassed. It didn't take a genius to know what 'they' were.

I leaned in close, gently brushing her hair out of her face. "Our bed." I corrected. "For as long as you want it."

When she didn't reply, I rolled onto my stomach, not so subtly wrapping my arm around her waist, and closing my eyes. After a few minutes, just as I was drifting off once again, I felt her roll over, abandoning her pillow in favor of resting her head against my chest, just over my heart.


	28. N is also for Noah

"Oh!" I sucked in a breath, trying to keep from crying out even more than I had. I fell back against the pillows, crying out in relief as the pressure lessened. I was more exhausted than I'd ever been before in my life. "Oh God, oh God, oh God."

"You're doing great, honey." I almost flinched at the touch of Jaden's hand as he brushed some sweat-drenched hairs from my face. "You're doing perfect."

"I hate you so much right now." I whimpered. He paused, raising an eyebrow at that but not objecting. "No I don't, but I really hate this."

"I know, I know." He promised me. "But it'll be over soon, and it'll so be worth it."

"I know. I-" I cut off as another hard contraction rocked through my body. "Ah-ah!" I closed my eyes, trying to fight through the pain as I forced myself to push once again. The pressure was killing me, but I could feel Jaden's hand in mine, his grip tightening as my screams grew louder.

When the contraction finally ended, I felt myself sink into the pillows. "I can't do this. Fighting Roddiseus and Bridget was easier. Fighting Krane was easier." I muttered.

"You've got this." Jaden told me gently, kissing me on the forehead.

"Alright, you're almost there." The doctor told us. "One more big push should do it."

I nodded breathlessly, out of words. Jaden smiled down at me, squeezing my hand tightly as the contraction started. I pushed harder than before, giving everything I had into making this end. The pain increased for a moment that last far too long, and then suddenly, I felt the pressure lessen tenfold.

I relaxed, absolutely drained in every possible way. I felt like passing out, to be honest, the only thing keeping me from dropping being a single, wonderful sound – crying. "Are they okay? What is it?" I demanded urgently, trying to get a look at my baby. I heard Jaden chuckle, his hand still in mine.

"He's okay, he's perfect." He promised me, taking the baby, now wrapped in a soft, white blanket, from the doctor. He bent down low, carefully placing our child in my arms, keeping so close that his head brushed up against mine as we looked into the crying face of our newborn son.

"He's beautiful." I whispered, absolutely awestruck. Jaden glanced at me, happier than I'd ever seen him before, before looking back at our boy.

"Noah." He murmured softly, his voice rough and shaking, as he placed one hand on the back of our son's head. I smiled, finding it difficult to contain my excitement.

"Hello Noah." I kissed his forehead as I held Jaden's hand, and it was like everything else in the room just melted away, leaving just the three of us.


	29. O is for Ocean

"Oh, this is nice." I sighed happily, feeling the heat of the sun on my face. "Barry's a genius."

"I wouldn't go that far," Alivia chuckled from somewhere to my left, "but this was a pretty good idea."

I opened my eyes and rolled over on my blanket to look at her. My girlfriend was lying on a beach towel next to me, soaking up the sun. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see our friends enjoying themselves, either having a sand castle competition on the beach, or playing in shallows of the ocean.

"We needed this." I told her sincerely. She nodded, rolling her head over to look at me lazily. She nodded in agreement, sitting up on her elbows. "It's a shame not everyone could come, though."

"Well, someone had to be available in case of an emergency, and besides, Rani and Liam volunteered to stay behind." She reasoned, shrugging. "I don't think Rani likes the sun."

"I don't think she likes daytime." I retorted. She chuckled in agreement, tipping back her sun glasses. A sudden shriek made us both snap our heads towards the water, though we sighed in relief when we saw it was just Dani. She and some of the others had been playing water polo, and by the looks of things, one of the team's newbies, Christian Mathews, had snuck up behind her and dunked a bucket of water and seaweed on her head. She was staring at him, mouth agape, but looking more amused than angry. "What his deal?"

"Tempest? He's a weather manipulator from Boston. Titanio brought him in." She waved her hand dismissively before smirking. "They're cute together, no?"

"Let me guess, you're going to pair them up together on missions until they hook up?" I guessed. She looked at me, offended. "Like I haven't noticed the number of missions you've been putting Alan and Melody on together? You, my dear, are trying to play matchmaker."

"I am awesome at playing matchmaker." Liv rolled her eyes. I laughed, sliding closer to her so that our shoulders were touching. "I got us together, didn't I?"

"Uh, I asked you out, remember?" I pointed out.

"But I kissed you, first." She bumped her shoulder with mine, giggling. We watched together as Ricky and another one of the new heroes, Defroster, helped Dani get revenge on Christian, chasing after him with handfuls of seaweed. Angela and Melody were trying to help him, searching through the slow waves in search of seaweed for their own ammunition.

"We should do this more often." I commented. Alivia nodded.

"Agreed." She smiled at me.


	30. O is also for Opportunity

"Nice." I smirked to myself as I walked into the sound room, looking around. The room was small, but comfortable, with large, modern chairs in front of a desk with cool microphones and a computer in between the two chairs. There were posters up on the wall – some of them were some of my favorite bands, while a few others were some indie cover artists I'd vaguely heard of – and a couple of bean bag chairs in the corner. Clearly, my new bosses had wanted me and my new partner comfortable as we worked.

Oh my God, this was the coolest thing I'd ever done, by far. It was like the reality of all this was suddenly hitting me. I was really doing this. I was really getting my own radio show.

My mother had thought I was crazy. Well, everyone thought I was crazy. My friends would call me Crazy Becky, though I knew that they said so with love or admiration (Jessica had always told me I was the boldest person she'd ever met), so I'd never taken it as anything but a compliment.

I'd wanted to do this for a while now. I'd been a junior reporter in high school, even interned for the local new station (after Bree Davenport insisted that I, being one of her friends, had to be the first person to interview her after her speedy secret got revealed to the world, it had been a piece of cake landing that internship). And sure, maybe it wasn't my own radio show – I had to share my spotlight with a co-host I'd never even met – but it was still the best opportunity I ever could have hoped for.

"Cool." I turned at the sound of another voice and saw a guy – short, scrawny, and a couple of years younger than me, with shaggy hair and too-thick glasses – walk into the room. He looked around, nodding to himself like  _yeah, this feels right_  before glancing at me. "You're Rebeccka?"

"My friends call me Becky." I held out my hand to him, but instead of shaking it, he kissed me gently on the knuckles. Okay, he was a little odd, but I could roll with that. It might make things a little more interesting.

"Gus." He introduced himself. He grinned a toothy grin at me before adjusting his glasses. "You ready to do this?"

"Born ready." I grinned back at him, already getting the sense that this would be a wonderful partnership.


	31. P is for Please

"Honey, I'm home." I called, walking into the penthouse. Calla was sitting on the couch, working on her laptop. "Hey, so what did Horace need from you this morning?"

"Oh, you know, he just wanted me to run some tests at Mighty Med 2.0." She replied absently, typing away. "Hey, Chase, since you're up, do you think you can get me a coffee? Please?"

"Actually, I was going to go shower." I replied. She craned her head to look at me.

"Please?" She requested. I looked at her, a little amused by her apparent laziness.

"You can get it yourself." I pointed out.

"Please?" She repeated herself. I sighed.

"Calla…" I began, only for her to let out a frustrated noise.

"Chase, would you  _please_  go get me a freaking coffee?" She insisted. I sighed.

"Fine." Somedays, it was better not to argue with her. I dropped my bag on the floor and walked into the kitchen. I pulled the container of coffee beans – hazel nut roast, her favorite – out of the cupboard only to find that it was surprisingly lighter than it should have been. "We're out."

Calla sat up, a confused look on her face. "What? Are you sure?"

I shook the coffee container, only to hear some clattering inside. "There's something in here."

I pulled the lid off of the container and turned it upside down. A plastic stick fell out and into the palm of my hand. It lay face up, and I stared in utter shock at the strip that ran across the stick, or rather, at the two lines on the strip, recognizing what it was and what it meant immediately, but the reality of the information not properly computing with me. "Uh, Calla?"

"Yeah?" There was something in her tone, a little nervous and excited at the same time. I turned to see her sitting on the back of the couch, looking at me with nervous anticipation.

"You…are you…you're…" I stammered. She smiled widely.

"I'm pregnant." She confirmed, biting her lip in excitement.


	32. P is also for Present

"Hey," Chase called, walking into the Penthouse, a brown package tucked underneath his arm as he carried in grocery bags. "A little help?"

"Fine." Kaz sighed dramatically, as if helping Chase with the groceries was some great inconvenience, despite the fact that he'd volunteered. Skylar got up to help him as Chase dumped the four bags onto the counter.

"Oh, hey, Oliver. The doorman said someone delivered this for you." Chase handed me the package. Jaden, Bree, and Calla looked up from the couch, where Calla had spent the last twenty minutes playing peek-a-boo with her nephew.

"Who sent it?" Bree called, curious. I shrugged.

"I don't know, and don't tell me to check the card." I added quickly, sending Kaz a look. He closed his already open and ready-to-reply mouth, though there was amusement on his face. I slowly tore the brown paper open, aware that we didn't often get packages to the penthouse like this without already knowing what was inside and cautious that the little break we'd had from major villains might be coming to an end.

"Wow." Jaden commented as I lifted the contents of the box out.

"That is without a doubt the ugliest sweater I've ever seen." Calla commented, shaking her head slowly. She was right – the sweater was striped bright green, red, and blue, with mismatching sleeves and so many Christmas symbols printed into the thick, likely itchy, wool that I didn't know where to look.

"Dude, burn it. It's best for everyone's eyes. Who in the world would send you something so weird?" Jaden questioned. Kaz and I exchanged silent glances. We didn't need to look at the sender's name, or the tiny greeting card hanging off the right sleeve of the sweater to know who sent it – this had been a ten-year-long tradition, and we both knew it.

"Doesn't matter. I'm probably not going to wear it." I replied, folding the sweater up in my arms.

"Good idea." Skylar agreed, turning back to the fridge to help Chase put the groceries away. I headed up stairs, intending to stash the sweater in my closet, but not without reading the card first.

_Thought you were getting out of this this year? Well, you thought wrong._

_212-555-0043. If you want to talk._

I chuckled at the words, shaking my head as I shoved the horrid sweater in the back of my closet, telling myself I'd donate it later, just like I'd done with the other sweaters I'd received in the past. Then, after a moment's hesitation, I laid down on my bed, dialed the number on the card, and held the phone up to my ear. It picked up after the third ring, and after a moment, I heard, in a voice that almost seemed to gloat,  _"Tell me that isn't the ugliest sweater you've seen in your life."_

I chuckled at the enthusiasm in her voice. "Hey Dee."

" _Merry Christmas, Ollie."_ My sister told me. I smiled.

"Merry Christmas, sis." I replied, having missed my other half.


	33. Q is for Quack

"Why?" It was the only thought that crossed my mind as I stared at the ground by Alan's feet. "Just…why?"

"We're not entirely sure." Melody answered for him, laughing nervously. Rani let out a real laugh, absolutely amused by the bizarreness of the situation.

"This is freaking hilarious." She deadpanned, laughing into her tea as she walked out of the room, presumably in search of Liam to tell him what was going on. Lily rested her chin on her hand, considering the situation.

"Well, it's kinda cute if you think about it…" She trailed off at the look on my face. "Weird yes, but also cute. Even you have to admit that, babe."

"Emphasis on weird." Alan insisted, glancing down at his feet as he fidgeted. Barry poked his head into the kitchen at that moment, a puzzled look on his face.

"Hey, I just asked Rani what was going on and her reply was a little weird. Do you guys know what…" he trailed off, following our gazes. "Oh, so that's why she started making 'quack' noises at me."

Alan bent down and scooped up two of the six baby ducklings that had followed him home from his and Melody's picnic in the park. "They won't leave me alone." He complained. As if to prove his point, the moment he placed the ducks on the counter, they started poking their tiny little beaks back at the palms of his hands. "Why won't they leave you alone?"

"They think you're their mom or something." I reasoned, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"No, Katy!" Dani suddenly exclaimed. I looked up to see her now holding her grey and white cat in her arms, the feline squirming violently with her gaze locked onto the ducklings. "We don't kill cute animals."

"Do we kill the ugly ones?" Tempest questioned, looking at her. Dani stared at him, genuinely offended.

"Just for that, I'm leaving." She declared, turning on her heel and stalking out of the room.

"C'mon, I was kidding!" He called, following after her.

"I guess the question is, can we keep them?" Melody asked. Alan looked at her, surprised. "Oh c'mon, look how cute they are!"

"I guess they are…" He relented after a moment. I sighed.

"Fine just…keep them away from Katy." I agreed after a moment. "Cats are hunters and Dani can only keep her from feasting on them for so long."

"We'll protect them." Alan sighed after a sideways glance at Melody. The cryokinetic nodded eagerly in agreement and was about to say something as Liam walked in.

"So what's this about Alan being a 'Duck Momma'?" He questioned. Alan groaned.

"I hate Rani." He muttered under his breath.


	34. Q is also for Quiet

I winced as the screaming grew louder, despite my best efforts to quiet my wailing son down. As I bounced Noah in my arms, I glanced warily at the baby monitor. I'd tried to muffle the sound with a blanket, but I was still afraid that Bree would come running through the doors any second.

"Shh, buddy. C'mon, quiet down." I begged him. "Your mommy had a long day, okay? So why don't we let her sleep?"

Apparently, Noah didn't like that idea all that much because, after a brief moment of silence, he started to wail once again. "Well, haven't you got a set of lungs on you?" I muttered, pulling him up to my chest as I headed out of his room and towards the kitchen, praying that we still had a couple of bottles in the fridge. He cried into my shoulder, his tiny hands curling and uncurling in frustration. "It's okay, buddy. I've got you, I've got you. Just let me warm this up for you, and then it's all yours, okay?"

Thankfully, it appeared that Noah's wake-up call had indeed been hunger-induced, as opposed to the other night when Bree had to rock him for three hours straight while I was out on a mission with Chase and Skylar just because he missed his Mom. He sucked on the bottle's nipple happily, his chubby little hands on either side of the bottle as if he worried that I'd take it away from him. "There you go."

After a couple of minutes, he was done. I put the remainder of the bottle back in the fridge, and headed back towards his bedroom, just down the hall from ours. It was painted candy apple red, at Bree's request, with the furniture – his crib, the much-used changing table, the dresser, and a few shelves littered with toys and stuffed animals – were all a nice white color.

I carefully deposited my son back into his blankets, right next to the stuffed giraffe my sister had gotten for him. He was already fast asleep as I slipped my hands out from under him, silent for the first time in an hour. I sighed, watching him for a long few minutes.

Eventually, I made my way back to my own bed, taking great care to slip under the covers as quietly as possible. But the moment I lied down, Bree rolled to face her, tired brown eyes blinking at me.

"Is he okay?" She questioned, her voice soft with sleep. "I heard you get up."

"He's fine. Just a bit hungry. I handled it." I assured her. She smiled and closer her eyes before sliding up closer to me. I moved my arm behind her bed, letting her snuggle up close.

"I love you." She murmured as she fell back asleep. I kissed my fiancé's forehead before closing my own eyes, fully aware that I'd probably have to get back up in a couple of hours to check on Noah again.


	35. R is for Reconnecting

I bounced my knee impatiently, checking my phone again for the time. It was stupid, I knew that – he wasn't late, I was just a bit early – but with this being my first time back in Centium City since my break up with Kaz, I guess a part of me felt like I didn't belong here.

"Hey," I looked up at the sound of my brother's voice, grinning when Ollie sat down across from me at my booth in the tiny coffee shop Calla had shown me a couple of years ago.

"Hey," God, I hadn't realized how much I missed him. I missed them all really, but Ollie had always been there, since the moment we were born.

"So, Alivia's got you working a missing down in Centium?" He asked, a little confused. I shook my head.

"Chicago, actually. Thought I'd drop by and say hi on my way home." I explained. "Hi."

"Hi." He chuckled. He gave me a look. "You know, the rest of the team would love to see you."

"I, uh…I don't think I'm there yet." I admitted. He nodded, not quite understanding, but supportive all the same. "So, how's Skylar? You guys still good?"

"We're great." He nodded, grinning. "You know, they just made her the official Ambassador of Caldera."

"Cool." I nodded thoughtfully.

"Uh, so what about you? Weren't you seeing someone? Christian, was it?" He asked.

"That didn't really work out." I'd wanted it to. Or at least, I wish we could have ended it on different terms than 'you're still too hung up on your ex'.

"Sorry." Ollie apologized sympathetically. I shrugged.

"It's not the end of the world. Besides, he really didn't like animals very much. Oh, I didn't tell you – Alan adopted half a dozen ducklings and Katy's being really nice to them." I changed the subject quickly. Ollie raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "Well, she's not trying to eat them anymore, which I'm pretty sure is being super nice for a cat."

He chuckled. "Why did Alan adopt a bunch of baby ducks?"

"Well-" I got cutoff by Ollie's phone vibrating loudly, a text message appearing on the screen. Even upside down, the sender's name was easy to read. "How is he?"

"Kaz?" He questioned. I nodded. "He's good. Actually, he's…" he trailed off, realizing what he was about to say. I nodded for him to continue, already guessing how that sentence would end. "He's seeing someone."

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. "Good." I forced myself to say. I shouldn't be upset – I didn't really have any right to. After all, not only had it been my idea for us to see other people, but I'd been on a couple of dates since. "I mean, I'm happy for him."

"Really?" Ollie looked at my skeptically.

"Does she make him happy?" I asked. He nodded. "Then, yeah. I am happy for him. He deserves that."

"Okay." He didn't believe me, but he didn't challenge me on it either. "So, Alan and the ducks, how did that happen?"

I smiled at him, grateful for the change of topics. "Okay, you're going to find this hilarious." I told him, smiling. It felt good to reconnect with my brother, with part of the team, even if there was a part of my mind still focused on Kaz.


	36. R is for Relaxation

"Mmm." I hummed in pleasure, my eyes closed as the masseuse slowly worked the tension out of my shoulders. "This is amazing."

"I know." Skylar agreed from my left. "Great place, Calla."

"Thank Chase. He paid for me to come here on my birthday last year." She sighed happily.

"No, but seriously, thanks for not planning some over the top bachelorette party. A relaxing day at the spa, a nice dinner, and a movie marathon was exactly what I had in mind." I mentioned, turning my head to look at my best friend and maid of honor. Calla smiled.

"Yeah, well, after the bachelorette party you gave me, I thought we might want to tune it down a little." I laughed at that – yeah, maybe that was a little too much. Especially with Dani nearly getting arrested. "Besides, it's not like we could go out drinking." She scowled half-heartedly, patting her stomach. Though she hadn't started to show yet, she and Chase had announced Calla's pregnancy a couple of weeks ago.

"You're just annoyed that you can't drink coffee until he or she is born." Skylar teased.

"Yes, very much so." Calla agreed wholeheartedly. I smirked.

"Don't worry. The months will fly by." I promised her. She nodded.

"I hope so." She agreed.

"So how's Noah doing?" Skylar inquired. I smiled.

"Well, he's only waking us up once or a twice a night now, so that's definitely an improvement." I chuckled. "But he started getting grabby at home, so I have to make sure not to take off my necklaces when I get home. But really, he's just so adorable."

"They always are at that age." Skylar pointed out. I nodded.

"Tasha keeps warning me about how difficult he'll be when he's a teenager." I admitted. Calla leaned forward to look at me, amusement in her eyes.

"Well, keep in mind how much trouble we put her and Davenport through." She reminded me before leaning back to allow her masseuse to continue rubbing her shoulders.

"Yeah, well he won't be bionic." I mentioned.

"Really?" Skylar looked surprised. I nodded.

"Jaden and I talked about it, and I don't want him to be bionic. I mean, when he's 18 and a legal adult, if he wants bionics we'll support him, but until then we want him to have a chance at a normal life."

"That makes sense." Skylar nodded after a moment. She looked past me. "What about you guys, Calla?"

"I don't know. I'm more worried about them developing powers right now." She sighed, closing her eyes.

"It's genetic?" I questioned.

"Sometimes. Horace says the odds are fifty-fifty of him or her having abilities, thanks to what the Arcturion did to me. God, that'll be crazy." She sighed. "Can we change the subject? This is stressing me out."

"Agreed." I nodded.

"In that case," Skylar leaned forward and slid a cart of champagne glasses, two with champagne and one with orange juice, towards us. She grabbed one of the alcoholic beverages and held it up. "A toast to Bree and Jaden, and little Noah too."

"Cheers." Calla and I agreed, clinking our glasses together.


	37. S is for Snow

"Hey, Dani!" I called, catching sight of my best friend walking along one of the hallways on the upper level. For some reason, she was carrying a jacket and pair of mittens. "Hey, have you seen Lily? I can't seem to find her."

"Uh…" She trailed off, purposefully not meeting my gaze. I frowned, suspicious, then glanced at the mittens and jacket.

"You know, if you're leaving, the front door is easier than the roof." I commented. Again, she didn't meet my gaze, this time smirking a little. "Okay, what are you hiding?"

She hesitated. "It was Lily's idea." She told me, beginning to walk towards the entrance to the roof. Sighing, I followed her through the door.

The entire roof of our base had been transformed into a winter wonderland, with at least half a foot of snow in every direction. The edges of the roof were outlined by a small, half-wall of ice (presumably Melody's idea to avoid people falling off accidently), while the center of the room was the battle field of what looked like too-serious snowball fight. Melody, Rani, and Liam were all cheating – our resident cryokinetic was using her powers to enlarge her, Alan, Barry, and Ricky's snowballs midair, while Rani was using her magic to deflect the snowballs and Liam was using his powers to blind the opposite team so that he, Rani, Lily, and Angela could get a better advantage.

I barely had time to decide whether this looked fun or too childish when one of Alan's shots went wild. They all froze when the snowball hit me in the forehead, covering my hair with cold, white powder. Every one of them stared at me in horror, waiting for my reaction.

I took a deep, steadying breath. "Alan, you're dead."

Liam laughed as I raced to join his team, dropping to my knees behind their snow fort. "I didn't think you'd be into this." Lily commented as I scooped up a ball of snow. I glanced at her. "You said you were busy working on trying to find a lead for Dani on Lexi."

"The trail's dried up. I doubt we'll ever see her again." I replied with a shrug, watching as Dani went to join the other team. "Besides, I could use a break."

And with that, I spun around and launched a snowball directly at Alan's head, hoping to get a little revenge. It missed, unfortunately, but Alan knew exactly what I'd tried to do. The other team all exchanged wide grins, then turned their attention solely on me. "Oh crap."

Sure enough, seconds later several snowballs were coming my way. Lily pushed me down to the ground, toppling over me as we both narrowly avoided the snowballs. I looked up and smiled at Lily. She laughed, her hair falling just behind my head, and I craned my neck upwards to kiss her.


	38. S is also for Stars

"And that's Taurus." Rani pointed up at the star-filled sky, the other arm behind her head like a pillow.

"What about those?" I inquired, pointing at a cluster of stars a little ways off from where she'd been gesturing.

"Cassiopeia." She answered after a moment's thought. I sat up and looked down at my girlfriend, vaguely amused. I was glad she was enjoying this though – I'd figured a midnight picnic on the roof of the base was exactly perfect for us.

"You know everything about astrology, don't you?" I questioned. To my surprise, she laughed.

"No. Astronomy, yes, but I could care less about whether you're a Gemini or a Pisces." She told me. I smirked.

"Virgo." I retorted, mock offended. She rolled her eyes, leaning across me to pluck a strawberry out of a basket of food I'd thought to bring. "But seriously, where'd you learn all this? I doubt stars and space was a class at Villain University."

"My dad taught me, actually. Gully too, but I always had more of an interest than him." She replied.

"You never talk about your parents." I mentioned. She shrugged.

"Not much to tell. Mom left when I was two, Dad died when I was eight. Cancer." She replied. "Started studying under Wrath a year later." She shrugged again. "Anyway, Dad always loved taking us out at night to look at the stars. He taught me most of the constellations."

"Cool." I nodded thoughtfully. She gave me a half-smile, then reached for the basket, wanting to see if there was more than just strawberries in there. She gaped when she saw what was in the tubaware container.

"Is this cheesecake?" She beamed. I chuckled at her excitement.

"I know it's your favorite." I replied. She looked up at me, eyes alit with happiness.

"You're amazing." She told me, leaning in for a kiss.


	39. T is for Truth

I'd never been known for my good ideas, if I was to be honest with myself, but Alivia had never minded. After all, she was used to it, and since even my 'bad' ideas had always worked out in the end, she'd always trusted my judgement. This time, however, I didn't think she would.

"I don't believe this." Jordan murmured breathlessly, staring wide-eyed at me. I chuckled nervously, unsure if her reaction was a happy one or an angry one. "You have got to be kidding me."

I fidgeted slightly, twisted my bow in my hands. "Nope. Not kidding." I replied.

"But…they're just story. Arciere is just a story, a new comic book hero." She shook her head in disbelief. "You're not real."

"I am real. I'm not just a comic book character…wait, someone's been making comic books about me?" I mean, I'd heard that Ambrose, the former Mighty Comics owner/artist, had a son who'd taken over the family business after his father died.

Jordan gave me a look. "Barry." She said insistently.

"Sorry, right." I apologized sheepishly. She frowned, and I could practically see the wheels turning in her head.

"So, are all superheroes real?" She asked after a moment.

"Some." I replied, shrugging. "Mighty Comics ones were all real, but they're…well, there's a lot less of us now."

"Is that why you're telling me now? Because you need to recruit heroes?" She guessed.

"No!" I said quickly, a little too quickly. "Look, it's a long story, but A…Geminus," the likeliness of her killing me would increase if I gave away her secret identity, "can't know that I told you. Seriously, if she finds out, I'm done."

"…Okay." She didn't argue with me on that. "Then why tell me?"

I hesitated. "I saw a good friend lose the love of her life because she kept a secret from him, and I just don't want that to happen to us."

Jordan looked at me for a long moment. "Was it Alivia McLean?" She asked, scrunching her nose up in deep thought. "I always thought she looked like Geminus."

"Well, yeah, but different friend." I shrugged. Oh well. Alivia was going to kill me anyways. "So, are you mad that I didn't tell you? Aside from your fellow superheroes?"

"That depends…who else knows?"

"No one." I replied immediately. She raised an eyebrow. "You're the first person I told, I swear."

"Not even Dani Short?" She questioned.

"Well…" She crossed her arms. "Hey! She knew before I did!"

"She knew you were a superhero before you did?" She questioned.

"No, she knew about superheroes before I did." I explained. My girlfriend's eyes widened.

"I KNEW it! I knew those weirdos were keeping something from me!" She exclaimed accusingly. I chuckled, amused. "I'm going to kill them!"

"Eh, maybe not?" I suggested. She sighed.

"Fine. But I'm SO going to rub it in their faces that I know." She declared, pulling out her phone. I sighed, and shook my head, only to be surprised by a quick peck on my lips.

"Thank you for telling me the truth." She told me, sincerely. She checked the phone to make sure it was still ringing, then kissed me again.


	40. T is also for Tuxedo

"I hate this." I grumbled under my breath, fidgeting uncomfortably in my suit. "I can't believe Calla made me come here."

"Oh, suck it up." Katherine rolled her eyes. Easy for her to say – that blue dress of hers fit her perfectly, AND it actually looked good. "And she didn' make you do anythin' – all the Davenport Industries board members 'ad to go. You could 'ave told her you didn' wanna be on the board."

"And pass up that pay raise? No thank you." I replied, checking my bowtie in the mirror. "I hate tuxedos."

"I know." She sighed, leaning up to adjust it. "But it's only for a few hours. Then we can go home. Believe me, I'm not too happy about havin' to wear this thin' either."

"You look good." I replied. She rolled her eyes and kissed me on the cheek.

"C'mon, Leo." She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the car, tossing the keys to a valet. She led me inside the massive hall, where the party was already in full swing. Davenport Industries' annual fundraiser ball looked like it had been a success so far, and knowing Calla, she likely had the rest of the night planned to follow suit.

Calla and Chase were probably already back stage, working out some last details with some of the donors before coming out to give the speech. God, I hated these things. It wasn't that I didn't think it was for a good cause – education grants for less privileged students looking to go into educational or STEM-related post-secondary programs? Calla certainly hadn't been wrong when she said it was a perfect idea of how to spend all that extra money Davenport Industries' had saved up – nor was it strictly the black-tie apparel we had to wear. It was just so boring, talking to all these rich people, even if they WERE investors. All they wanted to discuss were bonds and other stuff like that – I'd much rather get people's money by ordering a pizza and chat up a bunch of fellow engineers about Davenport Industries' projects and future plans in order to get them interested in the company. "At least there's free food." I sighed, trying to make myself enjoy the night. I grabbed a couple of small salami rolls off a server's tray and handed it to Katherine. She smiled appreciatively and took it from me.

"I'll make you a deal." She offered. I looked at her, intrigued, and she smiled flirtatiously back at me.

"If you don' complain abou' bein' here until after Calla's speech, then…then we can sneak out once she's done and go see a movie."

"Done." I agreed. She grinned.

"Good." She finished her salami roll in one bite, quickly disposing of the toothpick. Then she took my hand. "Now dance with me."

"I didn't know you liked to dance." I commented. She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Maybe a little." She admitted, pulling me onto the dance floor. I chuckled, even as I put my hands around her waist. "You do look good, you know."

"I know." I replied, earning myself an amused smirk and a roll of her eyes.


	41. U is for Underestimate

"Should we, uh…help her out?" Bob questioned, his tone hesitant as he watched the fight before us. I shook my head, leaning against the wall and watching the show unfold.

"Nah, she'll be done in a minute." I assured him. He sent me a confused look and I couldn't help but chuckle.

Though we'd all stopped officially training a few of years ago, we still had monthly Bionic Battle challenges, partially to keep us active and on our toes when we weren't on missions, but if I were being honest, it was mostly for entertainment. The only change we'd made was to have it be three versus three, just to add a little more action to the battles. Anyway, Daniel had been trying to show off for a girl with super strength – she had a boyfriend, but no one wanted to ruin that surprise for him – and after being told that he wasn't the strong, he'd grabbed Adam and Logan, and had challenged who he thought would be the easiest to take down – Taylor. I guess he figured she would be an easy beat, what with her being blind and stuff. Even with me and Bob by her side, he still thought it would be a fairly easy way to show off.

Boy was he wrong.

Once Taylor had realized  _why_  he'd chosen to fight her, she hadn't been too happy about it, and had promptly insisted that Bob and I do nothing. Which was fine by me – unlike Daniel, I knew better than to underestimate my girlfriend.

"Tap out!" Taylor shouted in annoyance, tightening her grip on Daniel's arm. She had the seventeen-year old pinned against the ground, his arm held tightly behind his back. She'd already dealt with Logan – a couple of hard jabs to the stomach had sent him out of the fight pretty quickly – and Adam was just watching the scene unfold like us, staring at Taylor with a mixture of fear and admiration in his eyes.

"No!" Daniel refused, struggling to try and get her off of him. Even with his ability to copy Taylor's super strength, she'd always been one of the most experienced fighters on the island, with or without her sight.

"Tap out." She insisted, tightening his grip.

"Don't break his arm, Taylor." Leo warned from the sidelines.

"I'll release him when he taps out." She assured him, even as she tightened her grip. Daniel let out a small cry of pain, turning his head into the floor. A moment later, he stopped struggling and his free hand slapped the ground three times. True to her word, Taylor released his arm immediately, stepping back as he rolled onto his back. He let out a relieved sigh, only for Taylor to put her foot on his stomach.

"Don't ever underestimate me again." She growled.

Daniel nodded, then, when she didn't move, voiced his reply. "Understood."

"Good." She stepped away from him and turned to walk towards me. I grabbed her hand, letting her know exactly where I was.

"You scare me." I admitted, earning a smile from her.

"Good." She squeezed my hand. "Wanna go grab some dinner?"

"Sure." I sent one last, sympathetic look at Daniel, before walking out with her.


	42. U is also for Underground

"And we're lost." Skylar sighed, stopping in the tunnel junction. I jogged to keep up with her – damn, that girl was fast – and skidded to a stop next to her. "I told you we should have just taken the subway."

"It's always late. We'd never get to the movie in time." I reasoned, even as I looked between the three tunnels in front of us, a little confused. I didn't remember there being a junction like this on the map of the tunnels we had back at Mission Command. Maybe we were supposed to take a left back at the last intersection instead of a right?

"We're going to be late either way, Oliver. By time we retrace our steps and figure out which way we're supposed to go, the movie will have already started." Skylar pointed out. I sighed, knowing she was right.

"I'm sorry." I apologized. "I thought…"

"It's okay." She assured me, kissing me on the cheek. "Besides, I wasn't all that interested in it."

"You weren't?" I frowned, surprised. "I thought you loved the Captain Atomic movies."

"…Not really." She gave me an apologetic smile, shaking her head. I stared at her in disbelief. "I don't hate them, they're just not really my thing. But I know you love them, so I…"

"Pretended." I sighed.

"Sorry." She apologized. I shook my head, coming up with a new plan.

"No, don't be. How about this: we head to the planetarium instead?" I suggested. I gave her a smirk. "Unless you lied about liking the stars?"

"Oh, shut up." She rolled her eyes, laughing. "And that sounds great."

"Great." I clapped my hands, rubbing them together. "Now we just have to figure out how to get out of these underground tunnels."

"Thank goodness the planetarium is open 24 hours a day." She sighed in response.


	43. V is for Valentine

I hummed to myself as I stepped out of the elevator, a gift bag in my hands as I headed for the penthouse. It was Valentine's day again, and with Oliver and Skylar out on a date, and Kaz having left town to go visit Jessica Henderson, I knew Calla and I would have the night all to ourselves.

That being said, I certainly wasn't expecting to walk into a candlelit dinner, just in time to see Calla placing plates of pasta and chicken on the kitchen table. "What is this?" I asked, catching her attention. She looked up, surprised, then broke into a smile.

"Hey, I thought you didn't leave until 4." She commented, walking over to me for a kiss. I smiled at her after she pulled away.

"I left a little early. Had to pick up some things." I replied. She glanced at the bag, her lips twitching upwards. "Did you cook dinner?" I asked, changing the topic. She hesitated.

"…No." She admitted after a minute. "But I did think to put the take-out food on fancy plates, which I'm pretty sure is the same thing."

I laughed at that, taking her hand and leading her to the table. "It's amazing, honey." I assured her.

"Well, if you like this, then you're  _really_  going to like your gift." She teased. I raised an eyebrow at that. "You're going to have to wait a little later for it though…"

"Okay, now I'm curious." I smirked. She shrugged playfully, eyes gleaming. "Well, even if I have to wait, I thought I'd give you your gift now."

I handed her the gift bag, which she accepted with a grateful smile. "What is…oh my God." She grinned as she pulled out the coffee-flavored candle. "Chase." She laughed.

"I know how much you love your coffee, and how you hate having to avoid it because of the baby, so I figured, why not?" I shrugged. She smiled, holding the candle close to her chest.

"Oh, that's not it." I told her. Frowning, she glanced back in the bag, this time pulling out a small, white, velvet case. She opened it, and smiled.

"Cute." She cooed, pulling out the necklace, its red, heart-shaped circuit board charm dangling from the silver chain. She quickly hung it around her neck. "What do you think?"

"You look lovely." I promised her. She beamed at me.

"God, what you got me is so much better than my gift." She sighed.

"I'm sure whatever you got me is perfect." I told her. She shrugged, a little less excited about it. "Good pick with the take out, by the way. Where's this from, CJ's?"

She smiled. "I know how much you love their food." She replied. I nodded, smiling at her.

"Well, I love it, and I love this, and I especially love you." I told her. She blushed a little, pushing her hair back behind her ear.

"I love you too." She told me.


	44. V is also for Vows

I sucked in a slow, calming breath as Calla, Skylar, and Rio walked down the aisle towards me, dressed in pale blue dresses. Two of the girls held bouquets of roses, while in Calla held Noah in her arms, the four-month-old squirming in the tuxedo onesie his mother had bought him. He let out a happy noise when he saw me, stretching his hands out. I turned to face the alter as they stood next to me, biting my lip in anticipation.

"Hey buddy." I smiled widely at my son, keeping my eyes on him and my sister as the music began to play. After a moment, Calla nodded, giving me the cue to look down the aisle.

I turned to see the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, an angel in a long, princess-like white dress, walking down the aisle towards me, escorted by Mr. Davenport. Even under the veil, I could tell she was crying.

Naomi was in front of her, the almost-three-year-old tossing flower petals onto the ground. And then picking them back up again, which earned a few laughs from the crowd. Eventually, Tasha pulled her daughter out of the aisle and Mr. Davenport walked Bree up to me.

"Thank you, sir." I said respectively as he placed her hands in mine. He gave me a stiff nod, clearly at a loss for words, before moving to sit down next to Tasha. I gently moved the veil out of Bree's face. "You ready?"

"I think I'm going to be sick." She whispered, though her tone was excited. I nodded in agreement as the minister stepped up behind us.

"We gather here today," he announced once everyone had quieted down, "to join together these two people in holy matrimony. To all of their guests, they are delighted to share this happy moment with you, as you are an important part of this ceremony." He looked at us. "I understand you've written your own vows?"

"We have." Bree nodded shakily. The minister nodded, then gestured at me. I fumbled with my cue card in my pocket, my hands surprisingly shaky. I looked down at the tiny card, then back up at Bree.

"I, Jaden Parker, choose you, Bree, to stand with in the journey we have ahead of us. I promise to stand by you forever, be it through sadness or joy, through danger or adventure. I promise to always strive to be the husband that you deserve and the father our son deserves, and that I will love you both for eternity." I declared, meaning every word of it. "Do you take me, as I am and as the person I will become, to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do." She murmured, tears streaming down her cheeks. She took a moment to compose herself, then looked down at her own paper.

"I, Bree Davenport, choose you, Jaden, to stand with in the adventure that awaits us." She announced sincerely. "I promise to laugh with you, cry with you, and grow with you. I will always try to be the most loving and supportive wife and mother that I can be, through sickness, health, sadness, joy, and whatever else tis crazy world throws at us. Do you take me, as I am and as the person I will become, to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." I confirmed, barely waiting for the minister to pronounce us husband and wife before leaning into kiss her.


	45. W is for Waiting

I paced the floor impatiently, still waiting for Liam to get back. That mission callout was hours ago; he should be back by now. He should have been back ages ago. Why wasn't he back yet?

That was a dumb question and I knew it. I knew exactly why he hadn't come back yet, and it was my fault. God, how could I do something so stupid? I shouldn't have told him. I just wish I'd figured that out before those stupid words left my lips; that was the kind of thing that sent guys like Liam running for the hills. I'd seen it all over his face when I said those words: the surprise, the immediate panic at those three little words. I could tell in that moment that while I may love him, the feelings were not reciprocated.

He'd started spluttering, clearly caught off guard by my confession. He almost looked relieved when Alivia showed up, insisting that she needed him for a mission immediately. But he'd said, he'd  _promised_ , that we weren't done talking, and I guess a part of me had hoped that he'd say something along the same lines when he returned. But I hadn't expected him to just not come back at all.

I looked up, suddenly hearing the sound of footsteps approaching the door. Without waiting for him to come in, I opened the door up, only to be disappointed to find Dani standing on the other side, one hand raised as if to knock on the door. She blinked once, then glanced past me.

"Okay, saves me the trip." She shrugged. "Alivia wants everyone in the meeting room. She wants to have a meeting about sending some heroes down south. Liam here?"

I hesitated, glancing behind me before stepping out of Liam's place. I closed the door behind me. "No."

"He go out after the mission?" She inquired. I shrugged, and she frowned, picking up on my attitude. "Everything alright?"

I forced a fake smile onto my face. "It's fine, Sparky."

"Don't call me that." She warned. I smirked.

"Whatever." I replied, sweeping my hair behind my head and trying to look more confident than I felt. I just hoped that no one else would ask about him, at least not until he got back from wherever he ran to.


	46. W is also for Working

I sighed in frustration as I filled out another piece of paperwork. With the next election coming up in a few months, Mayor Hannan was about to start re-campaigning for his position, and that meant that there were miles of paperwork that she needed to look at. And someone – me, by some stroke of bad luck – had to approve each paper before he saw it. Normally, I wouldn't mind – I mean, an extra couple of hours of paperwork every once in a while wasn't the end of the world, and overtime pay didn't hurt – but tonight was my birthday, and I knew for a fact that she'd been planning something special for me. I could hear the disappointment in her voice when I called to tell her I wouldn't be able to make it home in time for dinner, and what with it being my last birthday before the baby was born, I'd actually been really looking forward to tonight. But unfortunately for me, it looked like I was going to be spending my birthday fixing interns' typos and checking off papers. I really hated working late.

"I swear, if one more of the high schoolers spell 'mayor' with an e, I'm gonna…" I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, not looking up even as I heard the sound of footsteps approaching my office. I just hoped for the sake of whoever was coming to bother me that it wasn't one of the interns.

"Here you go, Mrs. Davenport." That got me to look up, just as one of the security guys opened the door for Calla. She walked in, carrying a small picnic basket.

"Thanks Fred." She gave him a smile as he closed the door behind her. I stood up.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, smiling as I went in for a kiss.

"Well, I figured, if you can't come to dinner, I'd bring dinner to you." She announced, placing the basket on the desk. I quickly grabbed a chair for her from the other side of the office. She smiled at me as she sat down. "Okay, so we've got steak from that place you like on third, mashed potatoes…oh, and Jaden baked you a éclair!" She added, smirking.

"An éclair?" I raised an eyebrow. She shrugged.

"Apparently, cakes are too 'mainstream'." She shrugged. "I don't know; my brother's a weirdo."

"Still, don't let me forget to thank him." I replied. She nodded, handing me a still warm styrofoam container.

"I won't." She promised me. She glanced at the papers on my desk. "Damn, that's a lot of paperwork."

"It would go a lot faster if these interns weren't all idiots." I muttered. I handed her a sheet. "I'm pretty sure the guy who filled this out has no idea who the mayor is."

She chuckled, scanning it over before whistling. "You are not wrong." She agreed. She glanced at me. "Hey, wanna trade interns? I'll take this guy over my new assistant any day."

"You mentioned he wasn't doing well." I mentioned.

"It's impossible to get good help these days." She sighed, before pulling the rest of the food out of the container. I gave her a smile.

"I'm sorry I have to work tonight." I apologized. She shook her head.

"Nah, I like this. No chance of Skylar or the boys walking in and ruining our night." She replied with a smirk.


	47. X is for X-Files

"I think this is a stupid idea." Rio declared, even as she sat down next to Adam, a bowl of popcorn and a 7Up in her hands.

"It's an amazing idea." Kieran retorted. I nodded, giving him a big thumbs up.

"See, now that's me, Kath, Bob, Spin, Logan, Kieran, and Adam against you. Pretty sure that makes us the winners. Just saying." I replied. She rolled her eyes.

"You don't have to watch it all if you don't want to." Adam told her before kissing her on the forehead. She shook her head.

"I probably won't. Leo," she turned to me. "you do realize that it is literally going to take you guys a week to finish the series."

"Actually, I texted Chase, and he said it would only take us six and a half days if we didn't sleep between episodes." Logan spoke up.

"Well, let's say around nine days. Big D only agreed to let us do this if we all get at least six hours of sleep between each season." I reasoned. Rio shook my head at us.

"This is psychotic." She complained. "It's not even that great of a show."

Immediately, Adam and I both gasped in horror at that ridiculous claim. "X-Files is the best TV show in the world, Rio." I scolded. She rolled her eyes.

"Ten bucks says you two," she pointed at me and her fiancé, "are going to be the only ones watching by time we finish season 4. Everyone else is going to either be too tired or bored."

"You're on." I retorted, pressing play and smiling as the familiar title screen of my favorite sci-fi show came onto the screen.

A week and a half later, I successfully caught up with the series, finishing season 10 at around 4 in the morning. And, despite the fact that I now owed Rio ten bucks, it was so worth it.


	48. X is also for X-Rays

I stopped short as I walked into the waiting room of the headquarters' med bay, surprised by the number of patients waiting for me. From the looks of it, every main member of the team was inside, all dealing with one injury or another.

Alan's injuries looked the most painful – an arrow was protruding from his leg. Judging by the guilty looks she kept shooting him, I figured maybe Angela had accidently missed her target. She was holding her shoulder tightly in pain, all the while helping Ricky deal with a badly bleeding cut across his stomach. Alivia was lying on the couch next to him, pale-faced with a bulging knee, while Rani sat on the ground next to her, likely dealing with a concussion, if I had to guess just by the green shade of her face. Barry looked to be the best of all of them, practically unharmed.

"I wasn't even gone for a day!" I exclaimed, exasperated.

"Would you believe me if I said this all happened in the last couple of hours?" Angela gave me a pained but sheepish smile.

"Honestly, no." That was the problem with the NLH being made of such young heroes; less experience meant more mistakes, and more mistakes meant more injuries for me to deal with. Alivia had been pretty smart to bring me on as an on-call medic.

"Okay," I rubbed my hands together, prioritizing. "Arciere, are you good to drive?" He nodded confidently. "Good. I need you to take Alan to Mighty Med 2.0. Get yourself checked out there. Nyx, go with him," the witch shook her head, then immediately regretted it as her face turned a deeper shade of green, "You know the rules – you get a concussion, you get a CAT scan. Frostbite's in Chicago visiting family; she can meet you there. Gem, I'll get you some x-rays, and Crossbow – broken or dislocated?"

"Don't know." She winced. "Broken maybe."

"X-rays for you too then. Surge, I'll get to you while I wait on the scans." They all agreed, though some of them were reluctant. "Good. Go."

I walked straight over to Alivia, and helped her stand. She bit back a cry as she did, and slowly helped her to the back. "So, where's Lily?"

"She wasn't there." My best friend murmured. I looked at her, surprised, as I helped her sit on one of the gurneys. "Before she left for yesterday's mission, she mentioned that she wanted to track Liam down. I figure she caught a lead on her way back here and took a detour to go find him, but I was going to call her if she didn't get back before dinner to see if she's found him yet."

"And hopefully, she'll kick his ass too." The idiot had just dropped off the face of the Earth a couple of weeks ago. We weren't really worried – he's a big boy, he can take care of himself – but considering he left just after Rani had told him that she loved him…well, it was a dick move, to say the least. "C'mon, x-ray time."

"I hope it's not broken." She muttered. I winced sympathetically, knowing that a broken leg would put her out of the game for a few weeks. "God, this sucks."

"Look at it this way – if it IS broken, then at least you have an excuse to get Lily to dote on you." I suggested. She rolled her eyes, even though the words brought a small smile to her face.


	49. Y is for Yahtzee

"I think she entered some sort of tournament, bet a lot of money that she would win, and then lost in front of everyone." Oliver declared as I walked out onto the penthouse in search of Calla's sweater. He, Kaz, Oliver, Bree, and Noah were all hanging by the chairs, deeply focused on some debate.

"No way, she's not dumb enough to bet money on something like that." Skylar argued. "Something had to have happened."

"Like what?" Bree questioned, looking at her friend, even as she bounced Noah on her knee. The infant laughed happily as she did, clapping his hands together. I smiled at my nephew before looking around for the sweater.

"Well, are we sure something traumatic didn't happen?" The alien asked, frowning. "I mean, she mentioned a trip to the hospital the last time I asked her about it."

I finally spotted my wife's sweater hanging off the back of one of the chairs and walked past the others to get it. They hardly looked up as I walked by.

"Maybe her house was invaded while they were playing it!" Kaz suggested, a little too excited about the possibility. I stopped, listening to their conversation with interest.

"No way. We'd know about that. You know, maybe when she was a kid, she wasn't allowed to play and she's still really bitter over that. I mean, we all know how competitive she can be – maybe she took the game a little too seriously one time and attacked someone for getting a higher score than her?"

I frowned, absolutely confused. "What in the world are you guys talking about?"

"We're trying to figure out why Calla hates Yahtzee so much." Kaz explained. I smiled sympathetically at him.

"I'm guessing she found the travel one you keep in the tofu box in the cupboard?" I guessed.

"Yeah, she hid the game on me so I couldn't 'expose anyone else to that level of evil'." Kaz quoted. He looked confused. "She hates tofu. Why would she even open the box?"

"Cravings?" I shrugged helplessly. Between those and the caffeine withdrawal she was miserably going through for the sake of the baby, she'd been going through the cupboards quite often lately in search of something to replace her usual morning coffee, and some of her choices were a little odd – I will never understand how spaghetti with chocolate sauce rather than tomato sauce could possibly make a decent breakfast, but hey, I know better than to argue with her about it.

"Hey, do you know why she hates Yahtzee?" Skylar inquired, looking at me. They all turned and faced me, waiting expectantly.

"Please, you think she'd let me tell you?" I replied, rolling my eyes.

"C'mon, dude. Tell us." Oliver insisted.

"Yeah…no thanks. See ya." Despite their protests, I made my way back inside and up the stairs. Calla was still in our bed, working on her laptop with a focused gaze.

"Here." I handed her the sweater, climbing in next to her with a new book I'd borrowed from the library.

"Thanks." She smiled appreciatively as she slid her arms through the sleeves. I settled in next to her and got through a couple of pages before looking back over at her.

"Hey, are you ever going to tell me the real reason as to why you hate the game Yahtzee?" I inquired.

"Nope." She replied, too concentrated on her work to look up.

"…Okay then." I replied, turning back to my book. Some things were better left a mystery, I supposed.


	50. Y is also for Yodelling

I gritted my teeth in pain, my hands clutching my ears as the sonic waves hit them. It felt like they were ripping apart from the inside, and judging by the looks on the others' faces, they wouldn't disagree with me.

I sent a glare at the super-powered criminal, hating him and his ability with every fiber of my being. I mean, sonic-screaming was bad enough, but sonic-yodeling now? You've got to be kidding me!

Thankfully, even yodelers had to stop and take a breath every once in a while. The moment the ridiculously high-pitched yodeling halted, all four of us launched into action, attacking him at once. Logan lunged at him first, grabbing his arm and swinging him in Taylor's direction.

"Tay!" My sister shouted to let her friend know that the guy was coming her way, even as she shot a ball of electricity at the criminal to keep him going in the right direction. Taylor reacted instinctually, reaching out and grabbing hold of the yodeler's arm the moment he was within reach. She twisted him around and dropped all her weight on his back, slamming him into the ground.

"Got him." I announced, clapping a pair of power-nullifying cuffs onto the criminal.

"Yodeling, man? Seriously?" Logan questioned, shaking his head at the criminal as I forced him to his feet. The man just sent him an annoyed glare, and Logan turned to me. "See? This is why we don't help the New League of Heroes with their villains – they're all really weird."

"We were closer." Rio reminded him, grabbing the criminal from behind and pushing him along towards the car. I started to follow her and Logan, but noticed that Taylor wasn't moving, instead facing the woods. "Kieran, Taylor, are you guys coming?"

"I thought I heard something." Taylor mentioned, frowning. She shook her head. "Nah, it's probably nothing."

"Why don't you guys go on ahead? We'll check this out and meet you at the arcade for a bite, alright?" I suggested. Rio shrugged.

"See you in a couple of hours." She replied as she and Logan continued towards the car.

"It was probably nothing." Taylor insisted as I took her hand.

"Yeah, but we might as well check it out." I reasoned, kissing her on the cheek. "Let's go."

And with that, we headed into the woods to see if we could find the source of whatever had caught my girlfriend's attention.


	51. Z is for Zap

"Watch out!" I shouted, even as one of the electrokinetic triplets shot a blast of lightning towards Rani and I. The witch dropped low to the ground, bending over backwards in a feat of flexibility I'd only ever seen with Olympic gymnasts and Skylar. Meanwhile, the ball of lightning came flying towards me, right into my waiting hands. I caught it with ease, my own powers preventing it from causing any kind of damage, before turning it back on them. Sure, it was just as likely to hurt them as it was to hurt me, but all I really needed to do was distract them long enough for Rani to do her thing.

Unfortunately for us, we were outnumbered 2 to 3, and with my powers being practically null against these guys, it certainly did put us at a disadvantage. One of the triplets caught the lightning just as I had, just as her sisters shot two more balls. Rani barely avoided them this time, and I was only able to grab one of them, the other crashing into a hotdog stand and causing it to explode. "Dudes, unnecessary!" I shouted, annoyed; that was one of the only guys in the city that served veggie dogs.

I raised my hands and blasted a wave of electricity at them, not hoping to hurt them, but rather to blind them. Thankfully, I timed my attack perfectly, as Rani was ready to spring into action. Finally.

"Prohibere, duratus in loco." She called, raising her hands. Immediately, the triplets stopped mid-motion as some sort of icy substance began to crawl up their legs, moving faster and faster until it covered them completely. I stared at the icy statues, then looked back at Rani, who looked equally confused.

"Were you trying to do that?" I questioned. She frowned.

"Sort of?" She asked in response. I chuckled. Okay then.

"Well, it works, so who cares?" I shrugged. Rani nodded, brushing some dirt of her jacket. I sighed, relieved that this fight was over. "You know, we really need to start recruiting some more guys. We're stretched too thin."

"We wouldn't be stretched if everyone was still here." Rani muttered. I gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sure they're fine." I told her. She gave me a dark look.

"Both Liam and Lily go missing in the span of a couple of weeks? Yeah, I'm sure everything's fine there." Sarcasm dripped from her tone, causing me to wince.

"I mean, they're both badass; they can handle themselves in a fight." I replied. "Besides, Liv's got a plan."

"She hasn't mentioned anything to me." My partner scoffed as she pulled her phone out to text one of our contacts at UPSEI.

"She was going to talk to you about it tonight, actually. I only know because she wanted my opinion on it." I told her. She looked at me, waiting.

"Well, what is it?" She questioned. I smirked.

"Oh, you're going to like it." I assured her. "Probably a hell of a lot more than I am."


	52. Z is also for Zoo

"Check it out, Noah! Look at the tiger!" Jaden gasped in fake excitement, pointing at the Bengal tiger in the cage. It didn't react to my husband's exclamation, instead flicking its tail impatiently and walking away from us. Jaden's face fell, a little disappointed, but Noah laughed anyway, clapping his hands together gleefully.

"C'mon baby, let's go look at the lions. Maybe they'll pay attention to your father." I told Noah. Jaden rolled his eyes at that, even as he took my hand and followed me and the stroller along toward another cage. "This was a good idea, babe."

"Yeah, but did we really have to take them along?" He questioned, gesturing behind us. Calla, Skylar, and Chase were behaving, the former two standing in the gift shop, laughing about something, while the latter was listening in on a tour guide's explanation about some of the habitats. Kaz and Oliver, however, were a little busy making fun of the capuchins, doing things from making faces at them to teasing them with their fries, trying to elicit some sort of response from the uninterested monkeys.

"Dani would drag their butts out of here so fast if she saw that." I chuckled, slightly amused. Jaden chuckled, nodding in agreement.

"We need to do stuff like this more often." He commented. I nodded, slowly moving along the edge of one of the habitats. Noah was completely alert, staring at the playing lions with big, brown eyes.

"With team stuff, we never have the time." I sighed. Jaden nodded.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to you…you've got to be kidding me." He cut himself off, staring past me. I turned to follow the direction of his gaze and let out an amused laugh. By the looks of things, Kaz and Oliver had gotten a little too close to the monkeys, because now the capuchins had their phones, tossing them back and forth like they were a ball. Meanwhile, Kaz and Oliver looked at them helplessly, the latter trying to convince the monkeys to return the devices while the former just looked distraught. Calla, Chase, and Skylar were all watching them, laughing too hard to help. "I told CeeCee something like this would happen."

"You should have put money on it." I advised. He gave me a charming smile.

"I did, actually." He kissed me on the cheek before beginning to walk in the direction of his sister. I smiled after him, glad that we took this day off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Elite Force will return in The Power of Seven: Missing in Action


End file.
